Crabbing for Love
by skittlesmomma27
Summary: A lot of things happened at Alice and Jasper's joint bachelor/bachelorette parties in Vegas. Over the course of the next 15 months a lot of things change but doesn't come to light until Edward is hurt and needs Bella's help. Story is completed so updates will be regular.
1. Chapter 1

**Just a fun short little story that is 15 chapters total! I had a bit of writers block so I decided to just write a fun little story that sparked my interest a few weeks ago. This story is completed so I will post a chapter every Sunday/Wednesday/Friday until all chapters are posted.**

 **This story belongs to my while the original characters belong to SM!**

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Chapter 1

"Have a great day, Bella. See you tomorrow!" Katrina, the friendly bank teller, called out as I walked out of the bank after making the daily deposit. Waving quickly at her I headed down the sidewalk to my next destination. Angela, my best friend since high school, owned a little novelty shop on the main strip of our small town and I was in dire need of her help at the moment. I suspected I was on the verge of discovering a life changing event brought on by a night of drunken stupidity.

I spotted Angela sitting behind the counter with her head stuck in her laptop as soon as I walked through the door. She not only owned the store but she also wrote historical romance stories in her spare time. "Hey, B! What brings you in today?" She asked as she reached under the counter handing me a small brown bag with a grin on her face.

"Don't be a smartass, Ang!" I called to her as I headed straight for the bathroom to use the contents of the paper bag.

"Bella, what does it say?" Angela asked through the locked bathroom door that I was currently hiding behind while I got over the shock of seeing the positive pregnancy tests that lay on the bathroom counter in front of me.

Instead of answering her I reached over flipping the lock on the door allowing her to come in and look for herself. She had questioned me about being pregnant last week when I had gotten nauseous during lunch with her and her husband, Ben. I had denied it immediately but she just smiled at me saying that she would have the tests and her shoulder waiting for me in her store whenever I was ready. "I'm not seeing things am I?" I asked her as she picked up the first of the five sticks I had lined on the small bathroom sink.

She sunk down to the floor sitting beside me with the life changing stick held in her hand. "Not unless you were seeing double lines, B." She said wrapping her arm around me tugging me into her side for a comforting hug. "How did this happen?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of me. "I think we both know how it happens, Ang." I told her as I reached over to rub her seven month baby bump. Apparently writing romantic erotic stories led to a healthy sex life.

"I didn't mean that kind of how and you know it."

Laughing I sat up straight against the wall taking a deep breath before spilling the beans. "It happened in Vegas when we went to Ali and Jasper's bachelorette and bachelor parties." That was two months ago.

"Wow!"

"Yep." I said taking a deep breath before taking the stick from her hand. "Wow indeed." I muttered forlornly.

Angela wrung her hands in her lap for several seconds before taking a deep breath. "Do you know who the father is, B?"

Hanging my head I muttered under my breath. "Yep." I said again, popping the p.

"Well?" she asked impatiently when I hadn't provided a name.

Taking a deep breath I muttered the name that helped me get into this situation but would most likely not want to help me with it now. "It's…."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for the reviews you wrote! While I am horrible at responding to them please know that I do read each and every single one of them and greatly appreciate them. With that being said I think I am going to try to update every other day instead of set days of the week. Once again this story is finished and is 15 chapters with an epilogue.**

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Chapter 2

I was tucking the blanket under the pillows of the bed in room 4 when I heard my voice being called from the hallway. "Bella! Where are you!?" My cousin, Alice, called out. Shit! She wasn't supposed to be here until dinner time. I needed more time to prepare how to break my news that I had kept from her for the last four months. Alice and Jasper lived in Dallas, Texas where she owned and operated a clothing boutique called Ally's Way while Jasper ran the cattle ranch they lived on.

Taking a deep breath I stood up straight before calling back out to her. "In room four, Ali."

Currently being six months pregnant with apparently the biggest baby in the county made hiding my pregnancy impossible. At my last ultrasound my darling son already weighed nearly two pounds and that was over a week ago and I still had over three months to go. "Sorry, I'm ea—WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Alice screeched as her wide eyes scanned up and down my large baby bump.

"I swallowed a watermelon?" I said with a laugh as I placed my hands on my lower back pressing my fingers into the dull ache that was there from being bent over making beds for the last hour. Owning and operating "Izzy's Hideaway" gave me joy but the further along I got in my pregnancy the harder it got. It was a restaurant slash hotel that was in a small community roughly twenty minutes outside the city limits of Tacoma, Washington.

"Bullshit, Isabella." She said angrily using my full first name that I abhorred on a good day. "Care to explain why I am just now finding out about this now?"

Sighing I tossed the pillows back onto the bed before grabbing my basket of cleaning supplies on my way to Alice's side. "Follow me up to my place and I will explain everything." I told her as I tugged the door shut behind us.

"Okay." She said picking up the bag of dirty laundry I had left outside in the hallway. "Lead the way, momma to be."

I just shook my head as I followed the familiar path up to the third floor of the once rundown and abandoned building I had purchased two months after I graduated college with my bachelor degrees in business management and finance. My father had been a bit leery and scared because I had used up my entire trust fund from my mom's unfortunate death when I was just a toddler to purchase and transform this place. After a year of restoring and making the place livable I had opened the doors to the public with a nervous smile. The nerves hadn't been needed because the place became a hit with both the locals and non-locals. "You can just drop the bag right here." I told Alice pointing to the double folding doors in the hall that hid the laundry room. I heard the dull thud the bag made as it hid the hardwood floor which alerted my fur babies that somebody was in the condo.

Moonshine or Moon, my Siberian Husky that had been a present from Charlie when I moved over 150 miles from home, came bounding in from the living room where he was usually found sunbathing in front of the floor to ceiling windows that ran along the whole length of the building. "Come on big guy. You and your brother are both hungry." I told the massive hip high dog as I rubbed him on the top of his head as I led the way to the kitchen.

"Is his food still in the same spot?" Alice asked as we stepped into the 'living area' that contained the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, and the guest bathroom.

I nodded pointing to my floor to ceiling pantry. "Yes. Thank you." I told her as I pulled open one door on my refrigerator pulling out the tray of strawberries, grapes, and pickles that I had fixed this morning for my mid-morning snack. "Want something to drink?" I asked pulling a bottle of water out for myself as she poured a scoop of kibble into Moon's bowl.

"Water is fine, B." She said as she hopped up onto the counter beside my tray of snacks plucking a strawberry off the tray.

I handed her the bottle of water before I slid onto one of my three barstools. "I'm sorry I kept this from you." I told her as I plucked a pickle and grape off the tray. "I didn't exactly plan on this, you know?"

She nodded because she knew that while I loved kids I hadn't been in any hurry to have one of my own at this age. I was 25 years old, the owner of a thriving business, a college graduate, and now a single mom to be. "I know, B, but does Charlie even know?" She asked raising a pointed eyebrow at me.

I gulped loudly before shaking my head causing her to bark out a laugh. "Oh, he's gonna have a conniption fit when he finds out he's gonna be a grandpa." She said shaking her head. "I didn't know you were dating anybody so who is the baby daddy?"

This is what I wanted to avoid. Telling her who the father of my beautiful unborn son was but I guess at this point I had no choice. After I had gotten over the shock of being pregnant from a one night—well two night really—stand I had called the other participant in this adventure but had gotten an answering machine saying "I'm out on the boat for the next six weeks but if you will call my cell and leave me a name and number I will get back with you as soon as I hit dry land. In case you don't know the number is...". I had left a message on his answering machine as well as his cell phone telling him that it was urgent for him to contact me as soon as he could with my number attached. After not hearing from him for two months I had sent him a picture text of the first ultrasound picture with a simple message saying 'Congrats, you're a daddy!' and finally I had sent a handwritten letter to the address the phone number was registered with. That one had took some digging to find but I would do anything for my unborn child but apparently his father just didn't give a rat's ass about him because I had heard nothing in response to my three attempts. "It's complicated, Ali. I am fully prepared to be a single momma to this handsome little devil." I told her running my hands over my stomach. "Want to see Oliver's room?" I asked her, hoping that it would momentarily distract her from finding out who his father was.

"You're naming the baby Oliver?" She asked with a slight frown on her face.

I just shrugged. "Not sure yet, still trying out names. I like Oliver at the moment but then again I don't want him called Ollie for short." I told her honestly as I popped a grape into my mouth before taking a bite of a pickle.

"Before you make me spew my lunch all over you show me his room."

With a chuckle I waddled, yes I waddled these days, down the hall to the other side of the condo where the three bedrooms and my office were located. Pushing open the door right next to the master bedroom I revealed my son's bedroom. In his crib sat both a stuffed crab and a stuffed donkey, both in respect of his father, along with a teddy bear that had been mine when I was a baby. Hell, who was I kidding I had slept with that bear all the way through college. Alice walked around the dragging her fingers along the wavy line that split the walls in half with the top half being a pale blue and the bottom half a pale green. "I like it, it's cute." She said going over to the crib where she picked up all three stuffed animals that sat tucked in the corner. "What's with this odd assortment?" She asked before placing the bear back into his corner. "I recognized Forrest from all the times you toted that thing around but I don't get the crab and the jackass."

I walked over to the rocker that I had put in the corner of the room lowering myself down into it's cushions before answering my sweet little cousin. "They are in honor of his father. His daddy works on a crab boat and is being a jackass at the moment so the animals seemed fitting when I saw them in the store." I explained softly as I rubbed a hand over the spot where my son was pressing against my stomach.

I watched as Alice sat the animals back into the crib then walking over to the dresser that was well on its way to being full of clothes before it finally dawned on her. "The only person I know that works on a crab boat and was around you around the time you got knocked up is Jasper's cousin…."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"OH GOD! I CAN'T DO THIS!" I screamed out as I flopped back onto the hospital bed in exhaustion. I had been trying to push my watermelon sized son out of a very small opening for the past nine hours and it seemed like he was holding on with all of his might.

Angela ran a cool rag across my forehead as I took a few calming breaths before I knew I would have to push again. "Bella you have to do this. Do this for Spencer or Oliver or Zander or whatever name you finally decide on when you see his face but do it for that precious baby you want to hold in your arms so badly." She told me as she placed an ice chip between my lips.

I looked down at my stomach with a glare. "So help me to God, kid, if you do not give it up and come out already I am going to give you the most horrendous name I can possibly conjure up." I told my unborn son who was determined to stay unborn while I was determined he couldn't stay inside me any longer. I had been unable to see my feet for the past four months and unable to bend over without losing my balance for the last three months and been unable to run my business from anywhere besides my bed for the last five weeks and I was SICK OF BEING PREGNANT! "Cooperate, kid, please. Momma's tired." I told him as I felt another contraction grip my back. Why I had decided to go at this naturally without any medication I didn't know but what was done was done now.

"Okay, Bella, push. This may be the one that gets him here. Most little boys don't like their mothers upset." My doctor said from between my legs where she had been for the past several hours.

I gripped the backs of my legs so that I could push down with everything I had inside of me. "Reach down, Bella! Here he comes!" The doc said excitedly. I let go of my legs to place my hands between them to feel my sons slimy head.

"Can I pull him out?" I asked curiously because I had seen it done on the many you tube videos I had watched during my pregnancy.

The doctor nodded placing my hands under my sons armpits so that I could pull him out and up onto my stomach without hurting him. As soon as I had laid on my stomach the nurse went to scrubbing him with a towel while the doctor suctioned his nose and mouth causing him to cry out softly. "That's a good boy." She said before clamping and cutting his umbilical cord to finish detaching him from my body.

I pulled the baby further up on my chest to nestle between my boobs that had grown considerably with my pregnancy. "Oh, Cayden Anthony, you are going to be a heartbreaker one day, just like your daddy." I told him as I ran the edge of the blanket over his slimy matted hair ruffling his head full of dark brown hair. I knew better than to get excited over his hair color or his eye color because both could and probably would change in the next few months.

"Cayden Anthony, huh?" Angela asked with a smile as she snapped picture after picture.

Nodding at her I looked down at the doctor when I felt something being pulled from my body. "Everything okay, doc?" I asked her nervously as a nurse scooped Cayden up off my chest to go weigh him and take his vitals.

The doctor nodded. "Everything is fine, Bella. Congratulations on such a beautiful boy. You both did great." She said with a smile as I felt her wipe me clean. "He's a hefty one, I tell you."

"Thanks. How big is he? He was over nine pounds at the last ultrasound." I said with a slight wince as the bottom half of my bed was put back on and my legs stretched out.

Angela stepped out of the way so that I could see the tiny numbers on the scale they had my screaming boy laid out on it. My eyes went wide as I read the numbers on them. "Please tell me I am seeing those numbers wrong?" I asked Angela nervously. If I had read them right then most of his newborn footie sleepers wouldn't fit him.

Everybody in the room chuckled at me causing me to flop my head back onto the bed shaking it side to side. "Oh God, he's going to eat me out of house and home." I muttered to myself before looking down at my boobs. "You gals might as well get ready to work overtime to feed the little dude."

The nurse put a diaper on the baby which caused him to scream his little head off. Apparently he was going to be a nudist also. Once he was wrapped in a blanket she brought him back over to me. "He's a beautiful baby, Bella. Congratulations." She said laying him in my arms.

I looked down at my chunky monkey who weighed in at 11 pounds 4 ounces. "Hi monkey, I'm your mommy." Little blue eyes blinked up at me as his lips puckered and smacked together. "I guess that means you are hungry, huh?"

The next few days were a blur of new baby excitement and a butt load of paperwork. As I sat in my hospital room with Cayden strapped into his carrier waiting on transport to come get us I decided one last time to get in touch with his daddy. I had decided the night after he was born that I would contact his daddy to let him know that he was here and a boy. If I heard no response I would once again contact him on Cayden's first birthday but never again after that. Listening to the phone ring I mentally went over what I was going to say to his voicemail when suddenly a voice said "Hello?" on the other end instead of the voicemail greeting I had always gotten before. A woman. It was clear that he wasn't worried about us or waiting around for us.

"Um…." I stuttered out just as there was a knock on the hospital room door.

"Who is this?" The irritated voice asked.

That brought my focus back to the phone and the person on the other end. "It's the mother of Edward's son. I just wanted to let him know that his son was born three days ago perfectly healthy and beautiful." I snapped into the phone angrily.

She laughed before hanging up on me. Angrily I tossed the phone into the diaper bag before scooping Cayden's carrier into my arms.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The months that followed Cayden's birth had been a true learning experience. Angela had warned me that no amount of research could prepare me for having a newborn at home. When Cayden started sleeping through the night at just three and a half weeks old she told me to count my blessings because at almost eight months old her daughter, Lola, still wasn't sleeping through the night. I got my payback when he started teething at just three months old and was fussier than normal. He was typically a laid back easy going baby unless he was hungry, which was more often than I liked to remember, or had a soiled diaper. "Your Papa Charlie is coming for another visit today, monkey." I told my hefty sweet baby boy as I sat him in his jumper that was attached to a hook in the ceiling of my office.

Cayden just smiled and giggled at me as he began tugging on the musical animals that were attached to his jumper. At six months old a lot had changed since his birth. He had indeed lost his head full of dark hair only to be replaced with a replica of his father's. He had kept his blue eyes but they had turned almost translucent instead of the newborn dark blue they had been for the longest time. I had no idea where he got the blue eyes from because neither his father nor I had them. He was still a chunky monkey at 22 pounds but while he was in the high percentile for his age his pediatrician wasn't worried because he was growing proportionate to his height. At six months old he was too long to wear the six month old clothes so he was wearing nine month shirts and twelve month pants or sleepers.

Leaving my office door wide open and Moonshine watching over my baby I headed for the kitchen and the amazing guy that I had working back there. "Morning!" I called out to Jake as grabbed my foil covered plate of biscuits and gravy off the counter along with monkey's eggs and gravy.

"Don't run off!" Jake called out as he rounded the corner to where I was standing. "You have to pay for that amazing breakfast you are trying to escape with." He said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Rolling my eyes at him I stood on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "There. Paid in full." I told him as I landed back on my feet.

"Jake are you harassing Bella for affection again?" Vanessa, my morning waitress and Jake's girlfriend, asked as she stood at the open window pouring several cups of coffee.

"Yes, he was. Are you going to spank him for being a nuisance?" I asked her playfully.

She shook her head at me. "Nope, he may like that too much. I may handcuff him to our bed and blindfold him though. What do you say Jake?" Vanessa said with her tongues stuck in her cheek as she looked at her boyfriend from under her lashes.

Jake held his hands up in innocence. "No, please don't do that again, babe. Sorry Bella. Tell the little dude I said hi." He said before scurrying back into the depths of the kitchen causing both Vanessa and myself to laugh at his antics. I knew better than to ask what had happened to make him have that reaction.

"How are things out there?" I asked her as I took the cup of coffee she held out for me.

She looked back over her shoulder at the semi packed room. "Looks like a good tip kind of day. Give the little monkey a kiss from his Aunt Nessie too." She said before grabbing her tray and heading back out into the room of patrons that were making my life possible.

Once I got back into my office I sat down on the floor in front of Cayden's bouncer with my plate in my lap and his bowl in my hands. I popped two quick kisses to the top of his head before attempting to smooth his hair down once again. "Aunt Nessie and Uncle Jake said good morning, monkey." I told him as I stirred his breakfast up in the small bowl. While I had fed him his morning bottle upstairs before coming down to start our day he would still empty the small bowl of eggs and gravy. After feeding Cayden his bounty I dug into my own as I leaned against the front of my desk with my legs stretched out beside his jumper. "Are you excited to see Papa Charlie today?" I asked my son as he bounced on his legs. He would start crawling just any day now and it was a frightening thought for me but for now he was content to bounce in his jumper and have a simple conversation with his mama.

Cayden squealed and slapped his arms causing the toys to come alive with music garnering his attention away from me. After my breakfast I let Moon out into the small backyard that was accessible only through my office and my condo upstairs before taking the breakfast dishes back to the kitchen. "Need anything Jake?" I asked him since I was about to start on the paperwork and inventory.

He shook his head at me. "Not that I can think of right off the top of my head. If I find anything today I will write it down and add it in with Nessie's till count this afternoon. Okay?"

I nodded back at him with a smile on my face. "Sounds good, buddy. Thanks for breakfast."

"Anytime, gorgeous." He said as he flipped the pancakes into the air before catching them with a plate.

"Showoff!" I told him as I made my way back to my office. Once there I saw Cayden rubbing at his eyes so I scooped him out of his jumper so I could rock him to sleep. He had gotten up earlier than normal this morning so it was no coincidence that his morning nap was coming earlier than normal.

Pulling my chunk of a baby to my chest caused him to tug at my shirt so with a sigh I raised my shirt up so he could have a drink. I knew he wouldn't drink much but who was I to deny my son a drink when he wanted it. Sure enough five minutes after he had latched on his mouth fell slack releasing my nipple as his soft snores filled the space. "Sweet dreams, momma' monkey." I told him as I placed him in his crib that had replaced the couch I used to keep in my office.

Just as I sat down in my office chair preparing to go over last night's receipts my cell phone rang with Alice's ring tone. She had kept the identity of Cayden's father a secret upon my request but she had not been happy about it and made that fact very well known. She had agreed only if I would allow her to tell her husband because she 'couldn't possibly lie to him'. Her words not mine. Just my agreement. "What's up, Ali?" I asked as I powered up my computer to put all the final numbers into my spreadsheet.

"Um, it's not Alice." I was immediately concerned because Jasper had never called me before, especially on Ai's phone.

Sitting up with my elbows perched on the edge of the desk I asked the question I really was scared to hear the answer to. "Jasper, what's wrong? Why are you using Alice's phone to call me?"

He sighed loudly into the phone. "Sorry but I left my phone at the house in my rush to the hospital. I don't know how to tell you this or if you would even want to know but Edward is in the hospital."

"Oh." I said slumping back into my seat as I snuck a quick glance over at my beautiful sleeping baby.

"I know, Bella."

"I know, Jasper. Is he okay?" I asked softly. There was a pause that clearly told me that everything was not okay. "Come on, Jasper, just spit it out."

After a loud exhale into the phone. "He's in a coma, Bella. He was in a major car crash late last night. He muttered your name right before losing consciousness."

"Oh." I said again, not knowing what to do with that tad bit of information.

"And as his legal wife…"


	5. Chapter 5

Well...since you all asked so nicely in the form of reviews here is the much anticipated chapter.

Chapter 5

After getting off the phone with Jasper I immediately called my father to stop him from heading my way since I would be heading south in just a few hours to do my 'wifely duties' as Jasper jokingly called them. "What's up, kiddo?" My dad asked as soon as the call connected through.

"We are gonna have to cancel our plans for this weekend, Dad. I've got an emergency to deal with out of town." I said evasively because while my dad knew of Cayden and his conception he had no clue who the father was or my impromptu marriage to him. That week in Vegas was one that I had hoped I could walk away from without anybody being the wiser besides Edward and I but Cayden had put a cramp in those plans. Walking away from Edward after a whirlwind week in Vegas had been hard but we had both agreed that it would be impossible to mesh our lives in the real world so we had both walked away without a backwards glance.

"What kind of emergency? Is Cayden okay?" He asked urgently.

Sighing a little because I had never been good at lying, especially to my father. "I'm legally obligated to make medical decisions for a friend in Texas." I said, giving it one more shot at being evasive.

"Obligated, how?"

"Marital obligation." I muttered sullenly just as Cayden whimpered from his crib.

"You forget to tell me you got hitched to somebody?"

"Nope I was trying to forget it myself. It's Cayden's father." I told him as I stood up to go get my waking baby. "Hi buddy, wanna talk to Papa Charlie?" I said scooping my sleepy baby boy into my arms for a short cuddle before his energy set in again.

I let Cayden talk to Dad for the next several minutes until my phone beeped with a text from Alice's number but I knew that Jasper was the one sending it. "Dad, I've got to go so that I can get our stuff packed for the trip down south."

"Okay, be careful, Bells. I love you two but don't forget you got some explaining to do."

"Love you too, Dad."

After reading the flight info in the texts Jasper sent me I realized that I would be rushed to get everything packed and tidied up if I didn't start immediately. "Nessie!" I hollered out as I once again shut my computer down.

"What's the emergency, boss?" She asked slightly out of breath as she skidded into my office.

"I've got to go to Texas for a bit and I need you to keep this place up and running for me. Can you do that?" I asked her as I stood up with Cayden balanced on my hip.

"Texas?" She asked curiously as she reached for Cayden. "Let me take the monkey while you get things together. We can serve tables together."

I nodded as I relinquished my son to her capable hold. "Yes Texas. I don't know when I will be back so do you think you can handle things for a bit?" I told her nervously because this would be the first time I was going to be gone for more than just a few days since opening the doors four years ago.

"Of course, I can. Want me to do the accounts while I'm at it?" She asked nodding at the receipts and now closed laptop that sat atop my desk.

Fingering the receipts I took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah, just sent me copies of the close-out receipts and the daily accounts so that I can stay in the loop. It's not that I don't trust you, Nessie, it's just that—"

"I understand, Bella. I will send you a copy of everything at the end of each day. Promise. Schedule?" She asked pointing to my door where the schedule hung for all six of my employees.

Again I nodded. "Yes, please. Call Cash, Taylor, and Seth to see if they can help cover some of your shifts since you are going to be taking care of my duties now. Don't forget about—"

"The hotel part. I know, Bella. I've got this now go get your stuff and this little dude's stuff packed while I go use him to make a few extra tips." She said with a smile before sauntering through the door. Before I could even take a deep calming breath she poked her head back into the door. "By the way I fully expect a raise and title as assistant manager." She said before winking at me and disappearing down the hall.

Two hours later I was unloading all of my luggage on the curb of the airport. "Need a hand, miss?" An airport jockey asked taking the suitcase holding Cayden's 'must haves'.

"Yes, please." I told him with a smile a I tugged the car seat base out of the backseat of the cab Nessie had called to take me to the airport.

Thankfully getting our tickets was no problem at all because I had the confirmation number in the texts Jasper had sent me but going through security was a huge hassle because of all of our 'carry-on' stuff. An hour after I had arrived at the airport I was boarding the plane with a fussy Cayden cradled in my arms while I had his carrier looped around my elbow and his diaper bag slung over the other shoulder. "Need a hand, Miss?" A soft voice asked from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see a 'college-boy' modelesque guy standing there with his sunglasses tucked into the collar of his shirt. "No thanks. I'm used to managing on my own." I told him as I shuffled further down the aisle towards our seat number.

"It's obvious that you aren't used to taking offered help but you look like you have your hands full." He said motioning to the carrier, bag, and baby that was looking at him with disinterest. "Is he your little brother or nephew?" He asked reaching out to ruffle Cayden's auburn colored locks that could stand to be trimmed.

I hunched my shoulder to block the touch. "Please don't touch my son. He's not used to strangers and frankly I don't know where your hands have been. You don't know anything about me but rest assured when I say I don't need your help it means just that." I snapped as I finally saw our seat numbers another foot up the aisle. Without another glance at the stranger who called my son my brother or my nephew I got us settled into our seats before popping a pumped bottle into Cayden's mouth for his lunch.

The five hour flight was pretty uneventful because Jasper had booked me two seats which meant I had nobody sitting next to me and it was also a straight through flight. Later that evening I was walking into the hospital with Alice and Jasper on either side of me for support. "How did they find out that we were married?" I asked as they led me towards the elevators.

"Your loving husband blurted it out when his psycho ex came in trying to make decisions for him." Jasper said with a smile. "We didn't even know you guys were married until yesterday when he blurted it out." He said as he plucked Cayden from Alice's arms as we stepped into the elevator. "Hi, buddy." He said blowing a raspberry on Cayden's stomach causing him to squeal out in excitement.

Alice wrapped her arm through mine leaning her head on my shoulder. "He's gotten so big, Bella. I can't wait to have one of our own to play with." She said watching her husband play with their nephew.

I just chuckled as I placed a kiss on the top of her head. "There is more to it than just playing with them, Ali. Trust me."

She just sighed as the doors open to Edward's floor. He was in the ICU because of an infection which caused a sudden high fever that led to unconsciousness last night. "He's in room 107 just down that way. They won't let Cayden in because he is so little and we can only go in one at a time anyways." Jasper said without stepping out of the elevator. "We will wait in the waiting room downstairs with this little monkey." He said tickling my son causing him to laugh loudly.

I only nodded as I handed over Cayden's diaper bag before walking down the hall that Alice had pointed to. "Excuse me Miss? Who are you here to see?" The nurse at the desk asked before I had a chance to get very far.

Stepping up to the desk I took a deep breath before spitting out the sentence I never thought I would have to say. "My husband. Edward Masen." I told her with a kind smile.

"Oh, I'm so glad I caught you then because the doctor needs to speak with you briefly." She said pointing to an older man walking towards us from down the hall. "Doctor Simpson, this is Mrs. Masen."

I shook hands with the doctor. "I hear you need to speak to me? Is Edward okay?" I asked, concerned because at the end of the day he was still Cayden's father without my feelings being brought into the situation. "I was just going to pop in to check on him real quick." I rambled nervously.

He guided me by the elbow down the hallway. "Let's speak in your husband's room so that we can kill two birds with one stone. You get to lay eyes on him and I get to update you on his condition." He said as he pulled open a glass partitioning wall.

"Oh!" I gasped as I laid eyes on Edward for the first time in almost nineteen months. He looked awful and barely alive; he had a band of bandages that wound around his head numerous times, bandages wrapping around his entire chest, and his beautiful face was bruised with several tiny cuts that I assume came from a window shattering. "Is he going to wake up?" I asked softly as I rushed to the side of Edward's bed.

"That is all up to Edward. His body has went under tremendous trauma in the past few days; both from the accident and from the two different surgeries he's had to have." The doctor explained softly.

"Two?"

The doctor nodded. "Well one but two different incisions. I will go over his injuries with you, shall we start with the top of his head and work our way to the bottom?" He asked pointing to Edward.

I chuckled despite the situation before nodding. "Sure, that seems logical."

"His head is bandaged because he has a huge slash right at the edge of his hairline that runs nearly from ear to ear almost as if he was being scalped." He said softly while running his finger along his own hairline to show me the extent.

The gasp that escaped me sounded odd in the room so I placed my fingers over my mouth so as to no interrupt the doctor. "Wow."

He nodded before continuing. "He suffered a puncture wound to the abdomen from some debris in the accident so we had to repair the injuries sustained from that which included removing his gallbladder, patching up his diaphragm, and to repair a small abdominal bleed in his lower abdomen." He paused as I cringed for Edward, maybe it was better that he was in a coma so he didn't have to feel all this pain he was obviously in. He pointed to the breathing tube hanging from Edward's mouth. "We have a machine breathing for him so that his diaphragm has time to heal." He said before picking up the tablet at the end of Edward's bed scrolling through it slowly. "I believe that's it."

"Is that not enough? What about the infection and him being unconscious?" I asked irritably, both from the way he said 'I believe that's it' and from my day of travelling with my infant son.

"He slipped into unconsciousness last night after battling a high temperature for three hours due to an acute infection that we are treating with antibiotics." The doctor explained.

I nodded. "So is there any reason he's not waking up on his own?" I asked as I ran my fingers along Edward's left fingers gently, all too aware of the IV that was bandaged to him.

"Not a medical reason, no ma'am. It could be his body's way of resting so that he can heal." He said softly. "His condition is not so much what I wanted to talk to you about though." He said as he placed the tablet back onto the foot of Edward's bed.

Simply raising an eyebrow at the man caused him to nod and continue. "There is a young woman who is claiming to be your husband's fiancée and has caused a few scenes since Mr. Masen's admittance three days ago. Since he said that you were his wife legally I have to ask what you want the hospital to do with this woman should she show again?"

I pinched my nose in frustration. "I don't mean to be rude or whatever but Edward and I are only married on paper. It was an accident in Vegas that we just haven't gotten around to correcting yet." I told him with a shake of my head.

"That doesn't matter, Mrs. Masen, you are—"

The sight of my hand being held up stopped him mid-sentence. "My name is Miss Swan, I never changed it." I told him firmly.

"My apologies ma'am. As I was saying, you are legally married correct? With a marriage license and no divorce decree?" He asked slightly concerned.

"Yes." I snapped, my irritation becoming evident.

"Then you have medical responsibility of your husband until he wakes and is able to coherently make his own medical decisions." He said with a pat on my shoulder. "Please let my nurse at the station know your decision regarding the other young woman before you leave."

Sighing I nodded as he left the room closing the door behind him. "Great. Thanks a lot, Edward." I told him as I reached up to gently run my fingers through his long hair. I bent down to whisper in his ear. "I'm here and so is your son so please get better soon so we can talk because frankly I am confused as hell." I told him before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek with no response from him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Living in a hotel room for two and a half weeks left a lot to be desired. Especially when I had a comatose husband to go along with a cranky baby and a homesick dog. "I can't do this anymore." I said to the ceiling of my home away from home as I talked to Nessie on the phone.

"Do what? Is that snobby bitch ex of his still causing problems for you?"

"Nope, had that bitch arrested for harassment when she attacked Cayden's paternity and my integrity."

"Then what's the problem?"

I sighed in irritation because while I had been dealing with drama since landing in Texas my living arrangement bothered me the most. "Living in this hotel room with a baby and a dog that acts like a baby."

"Why don't you just get an apartment with a short term lease?" She suggested causing me to sit up in the bed.

"How come I didn't think of that?" I asked her quietly as I glanced at the other bed where Moonshine lay looking at me with his big sad blue eyes. Nessie had flown him to me when he refused to eat for three days in a row.

Nessie chuckled. "Because you are stressed out that Edward hasn't woken up yet and it's been over two weeks since you saw your big baby up here. Plus it's almost Christmas and you missed Thanksgiving by just a few days."

"I want to be at home for Christmas. I want Cayden to spend his first Christmas in his home with the people he knows and loves." I complained as I flopped back onto the bed in frustration. I had been in San Antonio, Texas for eighteen days and Edward though he was healing from all of his injuries persisted to stay in a comatose state. The doctors say that he will come out of it when his body feels ready. I didn't mean to sound selfish or anything but what about me? I was ready to go home, back to my business, back to my friends who were more like family, and back to my normal routine.

Nessie chuckled through the phone. "Don't even pretend like this is about Cayden because from what I can tell that little boy is being doted on there just as much as he was here. This is all about you, Bella. Here's a hint though…" she paused for a really long time, long enough to make me check the phone to make sure she hadn't hung up on me "…if you find a house with a spare bedroom you may just have your friends and family with you for Christmas and possibly New Years too."

That simple statement from her had me scouring the internet and the newspapers the next day while I waited for Edward to get out of his latest CT scan. "What you doing in here, Bella?" Rosalie, the day shift nurse asked me as she can in to check the machines that were monitoring Edward's vital signs. He had been moved to a more normal room since his infection had cleared up and there were no signs of his fever returning.

"Trying to find a place to live since it looks like I am going to be sticking around for a while." I told her with a heavy sigh.

She nodded. "I think it's really sweet and noble of you to stick around considering you guys only have a paper marriage." She said as she got a read out on the heart monitor. "He has several spikes in his heartrate which may be a sign that he's more alert than we think. This could be a good sign." She said as she scanned the long sheet of paper.

"Thank God but even if he wakes up today he's going to need help through therapy and rehab so I I'm still not going home anytime soon. Plus I want my son to spend his first Christmas in a house instead of a hotel room." I told her as I pulled up an online ad for a sublet that would let me rent week by week or month by month.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a son." She said with a smile in my direction.

I nodded as I returned her smile. "Actually, Edward and I have a son that will be seven months in three days. Here." I said pulling up Cayden's picture on the tablet before turning to show her the mini replica of Edward.

"Oh my gosh, he's so adorable!" She said as she looked at the picture I had taken just a few weeks ago when we had Thanksgiving dinner with Alice and Jasper. Cayden was sitting in the middle of a pile of leaves Jasper had raked up. He had the biggest grin on his face causing his blue eyes to just sparkle as Alice sprinkled leaves on the top of his hood clad head.

I took the tablet back looking down at my smiling boy and couldn't help but smile myself. While I spent a few hours each day with Edward reading to him or just talking to him Alice and Jasper watched Cayden to get some 'baby experience' for when they had one of their own. "Thanks, he's a mess. I just hope Edward feels the same way about him as I do but we won't know that until he wakes his hard headed ass up." I told her letting my frustrations at the situation show.

"Edward's never met the baby?" Rosalie asked politely as she typed her credentials into the computer.

Shaking my head I stood to look out the window. "No. His ex that is banned from this floor of the hospital deleted all the message I left him since I found out I was pregnant. Edward and I met at Alice and Jasper's bachelorette and bachelor party in Vegas. Hooked up for two days, obviously got married and pregnant, and went our separate ways; him back to his crab boat and me back to my business in Washington." I told her softly as I leaned my head against the window.

"That's some story. Good luck with everything." She said before leaving the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts and irritation. After a few minutes I sat back down in my chair to resume my search when an email popped up from Nessie. I immediately opened it because she normally didn't email until the end of the day with all of the financials done. Laughter bubbled out of my throat as I saw what her email contained. She had found me a sublet and emailed me pictures, a list of amenities, and the owner's contact information.

 _This one looks perfect, don't you think B? One bedroom for you, one for Cayden and Lola, one for me and Jake, and one for Ben and Angela. I think Charlie will enjoy the den with that big TV, don't you?_

I couldn't stop the tears that spilled down my cheeks at her email because it told me that all the people that were important to me were coming down for spend Christmas with me but that left nobody to look after Izzy's Hideaway. Immediately I picked up my phone to call my 'assistant manager' about her little email stunt. "Izzy's Hideaway, acting manager Vanessa speaking."

"Acting manager, huh?" I sniped into the phone.

She had the audacity to giggle at me. "It sounds so much better than assistant manager when the actual manager isn't able to come to the phone." She responded smartly. Damn her for making sense.

"Smartass."

"Uh huh, what's the point of this phone call? I'm a bit busy at the moment, you know." She said as I heard the distinct sound of my washer dial being turned.

I couldn't help but smile at the sounds of her doing the tedious chores that I had done by myself since opening the doors four years ago. "Just wandering about the email you sent. If you, Angela, Charlie, and Jake are all coming down for Christmas and possibly New Years who is going to run things up there?" I asked getting straight to the point about all my important and trustworthy people leaving the state at the same time.

"Taylor and Cash. You know yourself that they are more than capable." She said as if she hadn't a worry in the world.

"Ness—"

"Don't start, Isabella. You know that those two are more than able to handle running this place for a few days. Just the basics until I get back to play catch up. No paperwork for them." She said hoping to hedge off my worries.

"Money?" I asked softly as the orderlies wheeled Edward's bed back into the room. I stepped over to the corner of the room to both have a bit of privacy for my conversation and to give them and Rosalie room to get Edward situated and hooked back up to his monitors.

Nessie sighed loudly. "I will only leave enough in the safe so that they can get through the nine days we are going to be gone and Cash is excellent with handling the money. You can trust them, B. Just like you trust me to make sure this place runs smoothly. Have a little faith in your choices, Bella. I've got to run now. Love ya!" She prattled before hanging up.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed as I rested my head against the glass once again, trying to head off the headache that was starting to form. "Be—Bella?" A croaky hoarse voice asked from behind me causing me to spin around wide eyed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Can I say WOW! Over 20 reviews for a single chapter! Thanks you guys! Here is the confrontation you have all been anxiously waiting for...please just keep in mind that I am not an angst kind of writer.**

 **One of my kind readers pointed out an oops in this chapter so I had to go in and fix Edward's last name. He is a Masen in this story as Carlisle/Esme don't really play a major role.**

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Chapter 7

Before either of us had a chance to say anything my phone began ringing from the windowsill with a familiar ringtone. Alice. Cayden. "That's Alice." I told Edward as I answered the phone. "What's wrong, Alice?" I asked skipping over pleasantries.

"He won't stop crying." She cried into the phone.

"Have you tried giving him his—"

"I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING!" She cried loudly causing me to cringe.

Sighing I broke my gaze from Edward. "Okay, just bring him to me. Edward's awake too so bring Jasper. I will meet you downstairs to trade off. You and Jasper can have Edward and I will take the screaming monster."

"Thank you. Be there in five minutes."

Shaking my head was a very bad idea that I quickly found out as the room spun unsteadily with the small action. "You're already on the way here aren't you?"

"Yeah, sorry. He's been like this for the past hour and I feel horrible because nothing I do calms him down." She whispered but I barely made the words out over Cayden's ear piercing screams.

"He may just want some mommy time." I told her before my phone beeped with an incoming text message. "I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes." I said before hanging up and walking to Edward's bedside. "Let me call your nurse." I told him as I pushed the button on his remote.

"What's up, Bella?" Rosalie asked over the speaker behind Edward's bed.

"He's awake."

"Wow, okay. Doctor Simpson and I will be right there." It wasn't two minutes before the doctor and nurse walked into the room with smiles on their faces. I stepped back to give them space to evaluate Edward given that he has just spent two and a half weeks in a coma.

"Okay, I will be downstairs if you need me for anything." I told the three of them as my phone chirped with a message from Alice saying they were pulling in the parking lot now. I left without waiting on a response from any of them because the doctor and Rosalie both had my phone number if they needed me for anything.

Once I had Cayden cradled in my arms his screams and cries deceased to sniffles and whimpers as I ran my fingers through his soft hair that was curling around his ears and on his neck. "I'm here now, monkey." I told him as I felt him tug at my shirt letting me know that he wanted a drink. He didn't nurse consistently anymore because the little monster had teeth but occasionally I let him still, especially when we had been apart for a little bit.

Reaching into his diaper bag I had sitting beside the chair I was occupying in the hospital lobby I tugged his blanket out tossing it over my shoulder and baby as I reached a hand underneath to pull up my shirt and bra so my baby could nurse. While Cayden nursed like he hadn't ate in two days I slouched down in the chair and closed my eyes. "Your daddy is going to be the death of me, monkey." I told him as I stroked his back.

He paused his drinking so I lifted the edge of the blanket to look at him. Big bright blue eyes were looking at me curiously with my nipple just barely resting in his mouth. "Hi, my boy." I said softly as I grinned down at him.

A smile spread across his face just before he latched back on. While he was nursing my phone beeped with an incoming message from Nessie; it was to let me know that she had set me up an appointment with the realtor of the house she has emailed me earlier. After ten minutes or so of Cayden nursing he finally released me and tried to sit himself up in my lap. "You done?" I asked him as I righted my clothes before wiping his chin with the edge of his blanket.

"Want to take a little road trip with Momma?" I asked him as I gathered up our stuff to head out to the car I was using while in Texas. After a stop by the receptionists' desk to let them know I was leaving the premises and could be reached by telephone if I was needed. As I strapped Cayden into his car seat he had been using since I brought him from the hospital I realized it might be time to upgrade to a new one. Typing in the address Nessie had sent me I followed the directions until I pulled into the driveway of a two story brick home with mature trees all around. "Wow." I said to myself as I turned my car off.

Halfway through the walkthrough with the owner my phone rang with the hospital's number. "Excuse me for a moment, I need to take this call. It's from the hospital." I explained as I stepped into the spacious kitchen that I was in love with. "Hello?"

"Miss Swan, this is Doctor Simpson and we need you back at the hospital so we can move forward with Mr. Masen's rehabilitation process." The gruff sounding man spoke in a rush.

I sighed as I leaned against the massive island countertop with Cayden sitting in front of me slapping his hands against the countertop. "Okay, I will be there in about twenty minutes. Thanks for the call."

"Thank you, Bella. Have Rosalie page me when you get here. Mr. Masen is talking with the physical therapist at the moment." He informed me.

"Okay, will do." I said before hanging the phone up. "It's going to be a miracle if your daddy survives this process with his limbs intact." I told Cayden as I blew a raspberry on his cheek causing his giggles to feel the room. With one hand on him I began opening the lower cabinets to see them filled with all kinds of cooking utensils.

The sound of the owners heels clicking on the hardwood floor caused me to cringe. "So, what do you think?" She asked as she walked into the room.

"I'm fine. I would like to sign at least a one month lease with the option of extending, is that okay?" I asked her nervously.

She nodded. "That's fine, I suppose. When would you like to sign the paperwork?"

"Do you have it with you? I have to get back to the hospital to tend to my husband's needs." I told her as I scooped Cayden into my arms.

"Yes, I keep a copy in the desk in here."

Thirty minutes later I was walking in the door of the hospital with the keys to my new temporary home attached to my keychain and my copy of the contract in the diaper bag. "You ready to meet your daddy monkey?"

I was thankful to meet Jasper and Alice in the elevator so that they could take Cayden while I talked business with Edward and the doctors before talking to Edward alone. "Will you bring him back up after he eats lunch and his nap?" I asked as Cayden reached for Alice, his earlier tantrum all but forgotten.

"You sure?" Jasper asked as he reached for the diaper bag.

Nodding I remembered that he had nursed not too long ago. "He may not eat much because he nursed earlier but then again that boy always seems hungry." I told them as I rubbed a hand through Cayden's auburn hair before placing a kiss on the top of his downy little head. "Love you, monkey."

Walking into Edward's room knowing that he was awake and alert caused butterflies to dance around inside my stomach. "You need to spend the next several weeks in the hospital going through rehab to regain the use of your muscles that you lost while in the coma." The physical therapist was saying as I pulled the door shut behind me.

"I don't want to stay in this hospital! Why can't I just commute here every day for therapy?" Edward asked frustrated. His voice was still husky and scratchy from lack of use but at least he was talking full sentences and making sense.

"It would be easiest to do it while you are in the hospital." The therapist said as she laid a hand on his ankle. "That way if you cramp up after a session I can come take care of it for you."

My snort gave me away as I stood beside the bathroom out of her sight but not Edward's. She turned to me and with the fakest smile I have seen in a really long time cocked her head to the side before speaking. "I'm sorry but this is a private conversation and I need you to step back out in the hall so his patient doctor confidentiality isn't compromised." She said in a sickeningly sweet voice that made my butterflies threaten to spew from my mouth.

"I'm sorry, Allison I forgot to mention that my _wife_ would be joining us to determine my therapy plan. Now could YOU excuse us so we can talk privately for a few minutes?" Edward said shooting a thankful smile my way.

The fake tittied blonde huffed before leaving the room. "I'll be back in ten minutes with Doctor Simpson."

"Thank you. I didn't have the strength to fight her touches anymore." He said as he lay his head back closing his eyes.

"We really do need to talk, Edward. This is all new to both of us." I told him as I sat in the chair I had spent countless hours in over the last few weeks. "I'm not even sure why you asked for me in the first place."

He rolled his head turning his bright green eyes on me. "Because I knew I could trust you with my medical decisions, Bella. I just want to let you know that I had no idea about Cayd—"

I held my hand up. "Don't speak his name. You have no right to speak his name as if you know anything about him. Right now we need to talk about what happens next with you. We will get back to my son after we deal with all of this." I told him firmly leaving no room for argument.

"Okay. I don't have anywhere to go, Bella. I don't live here and I really don't want to have to travel so far every day for therapy which is what would happen if I lived with Alice and Jasper." He paused to take a deep breath before cringing. "Shit, that hurts." He wheezed out. After a few minutes of slow breathing he continued. "Plus I want the chance to get to know our son before you take him back home, wherever that is."

Cocking an eyebrow at his use of 'our son' I remained silent because I honestly didn't know what to say at this moment. Thankfully a knock on the door saved either of us from having to say anything. It was Doctor Simpson with the fake physical therapist trailing in behind him with Rosalie behind her. "We aren't interrupting are we?" Doctor Simpson asked.

I shook my head while Edward nodded causing the 'dynamic' trio to laugh at us. "Okay, Edward you say you want to go home as soon as possible but that is going to require some at home assistance. I could even recommend the therapy to be done at home but…"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Despite Edward's wants he was still going to have to spend six more days in the hospital so he could regain a little bit of his strength back while Cayden and I moved into our new house. According to Doctor Simpson and the physical therapy department Edward was going to need 12-16 week of therapy because it was going to be slow going due to the damage to his ribs, lungs, and diaphragm and the fact that he was in a coma for two weeks. I had tried to argue that I wasn't needed here the whole time but Edward had begged me to stay so that he could form a relationship with Cayden and 'make up for his stupidity' in the past. I had reluctantly agreed because this is what was best for my son. Once the doctor and therapist left it was just myself and Edward left alone in the awkward silence of his hospital room. "I don't want to keep you from him, Edward. That is not nor has it ever been my intentions or wants."

He nodded. "I know. The night of my accident Jasper had confronted me about Cay—about our son and my idiocy and avoidance of him. I was confused and told him I didn't have a son or any child for that matter because as far as I knew I didn't have." He said pausing to take a few deep breaths.

"Jasper explained a little bit about Irina's stunts." I admitted softly as I pulled a picture of Cayden up on my phone before leaning over to show it to Edward. "This is him."

I watched as Edward fell in love through a simple photo of our son, the tears pooled and slipped down his cheeks as I flipped through picture after picture of my baby's first six months of life. "He's beautiful and obviously very happy." He said as I pulled my phone back.

I couldn't help but nod because that was true. Cayden was beautiful. Cayden was happy. Cayden was loved by everybody who met him. "Thanks. He's an easy baby." I said just as my phone beeped with an incoming text. Alice. "Speaking of…" I said as I read the text.

 _Cayden just woke up and is fussy again. We are on our way to you before we have a repeat of earlier._

"Well he's an easy baby for everybody but Alice and Jasper apparently." I said with a chuckle.

Edward grinned. "Maybe he just misses his momma. I know I did."

"Don't start, Edward. While we are living together for your therapy we can get a divorce and work out a visitation agreement with Cayden." I told him with a raised eyebrow.

Edward shook his head. "That doesn't work for me. I will agree on one condition. Want to hear it?" He asked with a crooked grin on his face that had landed us in this position to begin with back in Vegas.

Groaning I hung my head but nodded. "Yeah, let's hear it."

"Six months, Bella. Give me these months and if you still want a divorce at the end of them then I will sign the papers willingly."

I snapped my gaze to his. "Just what do you expect to happen in these next six months, Edward? A miracle?"

He shook his head. "Nope, just fate. We had an amazing two days in Vegas before we had to go our separate ways."

"I'm not the same girl I was back then, Edward. I have a baby to take care of now, and a dog, and a business." I told him shaking my head rapidly.

"You had all of that back then except for the baby and you still fell in love with and married me in two days' time. That baby was created out of love, Isabella, not sloppy drunken sex. You know it and so do I." He said just as there was a knock on the door.

I stood up to go see who if it was Alice and Jasper because I wanted to be the one to hand Cayden to Edward for the first time. Though he was almost seven months old, holding your child for the first time is a life altering experience for every parent. "Come to momma, monkey." I said as my son nearly leapt from Jasper's arms when he spotted me. Again he tugged on my shirt indicating he wanted a drink. "In a minute, buddy. There is somebody I want you to meet first." I told him as Alice and Jasper smiled before dropping the diaper bag and leaving with a whispered 'good luck' in my direction.

Taking a deep breath I stepped into Edward's line of sight. "That's your daddy, monkey." I told my son softly as I sat gently on the side of Edward's bed. Edward lifted his hand slightly to touch Cayden's closed fist. "Edward Anthony Masen I would like to introduce you to Cayden Anthony Masen." I said with tears in my eyes. This is what I always wanted. My son to have a father who loved him as much as I did.

Cayden just looked at me curiously while Edward watched Cayden with tear filled eyes. "He's so big."

"Oh you ain't kiddin'!" I said as Cayden tugged on my shirt again accompanied this time by a whimper. Taking him back in my arm I went to grab the diaper bag before walking over to the chair so that I could relax while he nursed. "He has always been a big baby, he was an ounce from being eleven pounds the day he was born. And he would have been over eleven pounds if I had carried him to my actual due date but I had him six days early." I said as I got us both situated and covered.

Edward simply raised an eyebrow as Cayden's sucking sounds filled the room. "Does that not hurt?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I don't nurse him much these days but he has been needy today. I guess the separation has finally gotten to him. The little monster has teeth that I think he forgets about sometimes." I said with a wince.

Edward chuckled as he watched us intently. "He's gorgeous, Bella. I'm sorry I haven't been there. Irina and I had an apartment in Anchorage so any messages that were left on the machine there or any mail that was sent there she destroyed. My cell phone doesn't get reception when I'm out on the boat. Jasper told me that you called and left a voicemail on my cell phone the day you found out you were pregnant, about two months after Vegas. I was out on the boat crabbing. It dinged with voicemail and text message alerts when we landed back in port but somehow it ended up falling into the ocean and was lost forever." He explained in further detail than Jasper and Alice had been able to explain due to lack of knowledge of the situation.

"It's all in the past, Edward. Let's just leave it there. Shit happens." I told him firmly.

He nodded solemnly.

Once Cayden had finished nursing from me and was sat up in my lap he suddenly reached for Edward causing both of us alarm. "Are you up for his weight?" I asked Edward as I stood with Cayden in my arms.

Edward shifted in the bed and nodded. "Just not on my chest or stomach. Please." He said breathlessly as I placed Cayden gently in Edward's lap, mindful of all the tubes and bandaging that was hidden by the blankets over his legs. "Hi buddy, I'm your daddy." Edward said tearfully as he played with Cayden's hands.

After I handed Edward some toys he played with Cayden for almost an hour before Cayden became bored and whiny. "I think we're gonna go, Edward." I told him as I took Cayden back into my arms.

"Okay." He said sounding defeated. "Thanks for everything, Bella. You truly are amazing." He said with a small tired smile on his face.

I cupped the side of his face, now free of bruises and scabs, as I leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You're welcome." I whispered before raising back up. "After all you did give me this little guy." I said jiggling my boy to get some giggles from him.

That night I put Cayden to sleep in his crib in our new house as Moonshine walked around the room sniffing every inch of the space. I had been shocked when the owner had texted me to say that she would change the guest room closest to the master into a nursery for Cayden. Once I had Cayden down I pulled out my phone to facetime Nessie to show her the house from my point of view.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Today was the day. Edward was moving in. "You ready for this monkey?" I asked Cayden who was crawling around the living room playing with the toys I had scattered around to keep him occupied while I got things ready for Edward to take over my spare bedroom and bathroom downstairs.

He crawled over to me and tugged on my pants as he tried to pull himself up into a standing position. "You are growing up way to quick, monkey." I told him as I scooped him into my arms causing him to squeal loudly just as the doorbell rang.

As I tugged open the heavy wooden door I came face to face with a scowling Edward as he sat in his wheelchair while a hunk of a guy stood behind him with a huge smile spread across his face. Emmett, the new physical therapist. "Hey, you two." I said extending a hand to the jolly looking bear of a guy. "Thank you for bringing him home."

"It's my pleasure, Bella. Though I think you may have a run for top baby in the house. He said shaking my hand before tugging on Cayden's foot which caused my baby to grip my shirt and tug his foot back from the stranger before leaning down to Edward, I relinquished him with a smile at Edward. Over the past week I had taken Cayden to the hospital every single day before Emmett worked him to exhaustion – according to Edward – for a little visit. My boy had taken up with his daddy fairly quickly which wasn't much of a surprise to me because he was a friendly easy going baby most of the time.

Raising an eyebrow at him because of the curse word he had let slip I stepped back so he could push Edward's chair into the house. "If you are going to be around for the next six months then I am going to have to ask you to watch the cursing because this actual little baby will be picking up and mimicking words soon enough." I told them both as I led the way to the bedroom that was hardwood floors and empty space. I had shoved the queen size bed into the corner and the dresser into one of the two closets in the room so as to maximize the space. I had gathered Edward's stuff from Alice and Jasper's a few days ago putting it in the bedroom and connecting bathroom to make him feel a bit more at home.

"Sorry, Miss Bella. That little guy is way too handsome to be picking up on dirty words." Emmett said as he wheeled Edward into the room. "This is going to be a great space to work in."

When Emmett stepped away from the chair Edward leaned forward to lock the wheels of the chair. "This is great Bella, thank you so much for doing this." He said as he kissed the top of Cayden's unruly head causing my baby to grin up at him. He was an affectionate baby. Just then Moonshine came bounding into the room with the entire back half of his body shaking in excitement of the new people in our house. "Is this the 'baby' you were talking about in Vegas?" Edward asked as he reached a hand out for Moon to sniff.

I nodded as I knelt down to give the beautiful dog a full body scratch. "He is. Guys this is Moonshine and he thinks he runs this house." I said scratching the big baby between his ears.

"He's beautiful, Bella. Seems like you don't do anything half assed." Emmett said with a smile as he looked around the room at the three guys that were enamored with me.

My cheeks turned beet red and I hung my head in embarrassment.

Emmett spent the next hour getting Edward set up in the bathroom so he could use it mostly unassisted and could get around the house with limited assistance. Shower chair. Rails along the walls he could hang on to for long distances. Walker he could use for short distances. Two way walkie talkies so he could call for me if he needed help.

Edward asked for my help for the first time that night. He had taken a shower after eating dinner with Cayden and I but couldn't stand long enough to pull his boxers and basketball shorts up. "This is so embarrassing." Edward said as he braced his hands on the countertop and the wall as I tugged his boxers into place on his hips.

He smelled divinely and I couldn't resist taking a deep breath dragging his scent deep into my lungs. I looked up at him from my bent over position. "Don't be, Edward. All of this is beyond your control and I of all people understand that."

"I hate her more and more every day. That bitch cost me something I can never get back, seven months of our sons life that is irreplaceable." He said as his arms began trembling.

I guided him back down onto the shower chair for a few minutes. Cupping his face in my hands I looked him deep in the eyes. "You may not be able to get those months back Edward but when he's 18 do you think he's going to be stressing over the first seven months of his life? Be there from now on and those first months won't matter." I told him as I placed a kiss to his cheek, unable to keep my lips and hands to myself. This is what got us in this situation to begin with. Our undeniable attraction.

"Bella…" He groaned before turning his head just a bit and capturing my lips with his. I slid my hands into his hair to angle his head up a bit for easier access since I was standing over him while he was sitting. The new angle allowed our lips to slip and slide against each other more urgently before the necessary evil of having to breath became urgent. "Wow…" He mumbled before placing another gentle kiss on my lips.

Resting my forehead against his as we both caught our breath. "What are you doing to me?" I whispered hoarsely.

"Working my magic." He whispered hoarsely as the smirk spread across his face. I pushed away from him putting my hands on my hips to try and look stern even though my core ached for him and my heart raced from his kiss.

I shook my head. "We can't do this, Edward. We have Cayden to think about first and foremost."

"Come on, Isabella. You know neither one of us can stop this. We couldn't stop it then and we can't stop it now." He pleaded as he pushed himself back to his feet.

Shaking my head I looped my arm around his waist. "Come on, Romeo, let's get you into bed. You've had a busy day."

"Please don't shut me out, baby. Give me a chance to right my wrongs. Please!" Edward pleaded with me as I help him get situated in his bed.

After I had the blankets tugged up to the middle of his bare chest I placed my hands on either side of his shoulders so I could look him in the eye and he had nowhere else to look. "While you are enjoying being the new parent I have been doing it alone for since he was conceived. There is more to being a parent than playing with him and making him laugh."

He gripped my arms in his sweaty palms. "I know that, Bella. Have you forgotten everything that happened in Vegas?" He asked me as his hands slid up my arms until he was cupping my face gently.

I closed my eyes as an onslaught of emotions swam through me. "I couldn't even if I tried. You hurt me, Edward." I cried out as I broke out of his hold to stand a few feet beside his bed. "I called and texted and mailed and did everything I could think of to let you know that you had this most amazing beautiful baby in the world."

"I'm sorry she interfered Bella but I can't change that now. No matter how much I wished I could." He said pleadingly. "You aren't the only one that has lost something, Bella. Nor are you the only one hurting here. I promise you that."

Swiping the few tears off my cheeks I faced him with my hands on my hips. "Did she tell you that she talked to me? The day I was set to take Cayden home I called your house and she answered the phone. She laughed at me, Edward! She laughed!"

"She's deranged, Bella. She had me fooled but I also wasn't home much because I was always out on the boat earning a living." He said with a shake of his head before a yawn took over.

Sighing I ran a hand through my tangled hair. "It's late and our son will be up around nine in the morning." I told him as I walked to the doorway of his bedroom.

"Nine?"

I nodded as I reached for the light switch. "Yeah he likes his sleep as much as his mommy does. Goodnight." I told him as I flipped off the lights as I walked out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"You know, monkey, this is your very first Christmas in this world and I think no matter what other presents I get this year nothing can top the present of you and your mom. She is playing hard to get but I know that she likes me as much as I like her and I am more determined than ever to prove to her that she can trust me and depend on me. I can never repay her for the best gift in the entire world but I am going to do my best if her dad and friends don't kill me first. Just know if I don't survive the day that daddy loves you monkey, more than anything else in this world I love you."

I had been bringing down a load of laundry when I spotted Edward cuddling our dosing son on the couch having a heart to heart father son talk. Swiping the tears off my cheeks I made a little racket as I stepped off the bottom step so that Edward could hear me. "You are not sneaky at all, Isabella. You know it's rude to eavesdrop on a private conversation." Edward said as he winked at me.

"You suck." I told him as I headed for his room to gather his dirty laundry so I could just wash it all together.

Tomorrow was Christmas Eve so that meant my friends and Charlie were coming in today to make my spacious house overly cramped. This house was four bedrooms and three bathrooms but Edward, Cayden, and myself were already occupying three out of four bedrooms so it was going to take some creative thinking to get us all through the next week and a half. Charlie was only staying two nights, opting to leave the day after Christmas to get back to his job and responsibilities. Angela, Ben, and Lola were staying four nights so they could get back to celebrate New Year's with their family in Washington. Jake and Nessie were staying for nine nights, going home January 2nd. I was a bit stressed over my business being in the hands of Taylor and Cash for over a week but Nessie assured me that she had 'trained' them on the protocols and routines for the past week. "Hey." Edward said from behind me as I straightened the sheets and blankets on his bed, habit for me really.

"Don't overdo it, Edward." I told him over my shoulder as I pointed to the chair we had put in his room on his second day here after a particularly grueling trip to the kitchen and back nearly landed him in the floor.

"I'm not, Mom. I wanted to ask you something." He said as he sat down in the chair anyways.

I turned around sitting on the edge of the freshly made bed. "What?"

"I know everybody from Washington is going to be here in a few hours so I was wondering if Cayden could maybe sleep down here with me while they are here." He asked nervously.

"He's never shared a room with anybody, Edward, and you are still recuperating." I told him as I twisted my hands together in my lap. We had been living together for three weeks and even I had to admit that he was getting around fairly well on his own and doing great with his therapy.

He looked at me with pleading eyes. "Can we at least try it, Bella. Then your friends that has the toddler can take his room while they are here."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "It's obvious that you have put some thought into this. Lola still uses a crib so we were planning on them sharing his during their visit so that they didn't have to bring her playpen along."

Just then a loud booming voice sounded out through the house followed by a piercing startled scream from Cayden. "Oh shit, little dude. Uncle Em didn't know you were sleeping." I heard Emmett tell my soon as his cries turned to whimpers.

"In here, Em." Edward called out with a smile.

"What's he doing here? I thought he was off until the day after Christmas?" I asked curiously.

Edward grinned brightly. "He's the solution to the problem of Cayden's sleeping arrangement."

"Hey guys." Em said as he walked into the bedroom with a once again dozing Cayden cradled against his chest. "Sorry about this but I have a present for you in the back of my truck, Eddie."

"What present?" I asked curiously as I motioned for Emmett to lay him on Edward's bed so he could finish out his nap.

As I placed Edward's pillows all around Cayden's body and on the floor beside the edge of the bed I watched Emmett and Edward talking quietly on the other side of the room, ignoring my question. When I was finished I put my hands on my hips as I turned to face them once again. "What present? And what are you two whispering like old ladies about?" I asked irritably.

"Baby, calm down. He brought the crib from his mom's house over for us to use as long as we need it." Edward said holding a hand out to me.

I didn't move but I did raise an eyebrow at him for his presumptuousness. "Kind of jumping the gun, aren't you since you just asked me about it ten minutes ago?"

He shook his head. "Nope, not at all. If you still say no then we can use it for when he takes his naps during the day." Edward explained smartly.

Sighing I nodded with a smile. "We can give it a try. If you fights it I can always just put him in with Lola. He loves her." I told them as I gathered up the dirty laundry heading for the laundry room. "If you wake him up then you can deal with him until its bed time." I told them with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes ma'am." Emmett said with a mock salute causing me to bust out in laughter as I walked away from them.

Over the next few hours they managed to get the crib in and set up without waking the baby while I did laundry and got dinner started. I was doing it big because I had a lot of mouths to feed and Jake ate A LOT. I was almost finished with dinner when the doorbell rang silencing my baby boy's squeals and the big boy's laughter. "COME IN!" I called out since I was in the middle of forming my meatballs.

"I got it, baby. It smells good in here." Edward said as he walked to the front door with the use of his cane and Cayden crawling along behind him like the little shadow he had become in the past few weeks. I had just thought my chunky boy was a momma's boy but it turned out he was more of a daddy's boy these days unless he was wanting a drink which was becoming less and less frequent these days causing my milk production to slow down and my boobs to shrink a bit.

I just rolled my eyes at Edward calling me 'baby' because after arguing with him for the first week I had finally given up the battle and just chose to go with it. Ever since our encounter in his bathroom that first night nothing else had happened between us physically but we had talked and talked about things until we had decided to let things happen however they would happen. No more grudges. No more "I'm sorry". No more resentment.

I watched as Edward pulled the door open slowly while keeping Cayden at bay with his cane. The entire Washington clan was on the other side of the door with Nessie leading the group. "Cade!" She immediately squealed scooping my baby up off the floor smothering him with kisses as he wrapped his chunky little arms around her neck happily.

"Come on in, you guys!" I called out to them from the massive kitchen island that I had covered with various bowls and pans.

My dad gave Edward the stink eye before snatching Cayden from Nessie's arms making his way over to me. "Hey baby, it smells delicious in here." He said placing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Thanks, Dad. Guys, this is Edward, Cayden's father. Edward this is…"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

CHRISTMAS MORNING! I smiled as I heard Cayden starting to stir in his crib. "Don't move." Said a husky voice from right beside my ear. Edward! Oh God, I was in Edward's bed and could feel every hard inch of his body as it was pressed firmly against my back.

"Why are you snuggled up to me?" I asked quietly so hopefully Cayden would let us get this awkward conversation out of the way. I had given into Edward's begging of letting Cayden sleep in his room while my friends and family took over our house but when it came to going to bed on Christmas Eve I realized I wouldn't be the first thing my baby saw on his very first Christmas and it had upset me immensely. Edward had found me sobbing on the floor of his bedroom after I had laid Cayden down to sleep and offered to share his bed for the night with the promise that he would keep his hands to himself. So much for that.

He groaned as he placed a kiss to the back of my head. "Seems I can't resist you even in my sleep. Ready to enjoy our son's first major holiday with his whole family around?" He asked huskily as he rolled over onto his back.

I went with it and rolled over to face him with my head propped on his arm that had somehow managed to end up underneath my head. "Yep, are you?" I asked as I snuck a glance over at my waking baby boy. He had rolled fully onto his stomach about an hour after I had laid him down but now he was pulling his knees up under him which told me we had about five to ten more minutes before he demanded attention.

"Yeah, I can't wait for the glares and snide comments from your father and Jake to commence for the day." He said glumly tossing his arm over his eyes in frustration because nothing I told them two or Edward's told them seemed to make any difference on their opinion of Edward.

Going on instinct I rolled on top of him, my hips on top of his, my hands braced palms down on either side of his head, my face a mere few inches from his, and my hair forming a barrier of sorts around our heads. "How's this for a Merry Christmas?" I asked him, my voice husky sounding even to my own ears.

He placed his hands on my short clad hips tugging me just the tiniest bit closer. "It's ranking up there as one of the top ten moments of my life." He whispered back as he raised up rubbing his nose against mine. "You are so beautiful, even when you have just woken up."

"How can I make it the top instead of just in the top ten?" I asked him as I rocked my hips against his slightly causing him to hiss and buck up into me.

His response was to seal our lips together as he flipped us over in the bed, allowing him to press his body weight down onto me. When we broke for necessary breathing he rested his forehead against mine as he whispered. "Perfect. Number two for sure." He said as he placed another gentle kiss to my lips before flopping back down onto the bed. His strength wasn't completely back yet but he was getting stronger each and every day.

"Not number one?" I asked as I sat up in the bed, running my fingers through my sleep tousled hair.

He shook his head. "Sorry, baby, but that is reserved for that little boy over there." He said pointing at Cayden's crib where our green eyed baby slowly blinked his eyes open.

I couldn't resist leaning down to get one more kiss. "Merry Christmas, Edward." I whispered against his lips.

He cupped the back of my head giving me several nipping kisses. "Merry Christmas, Isabella."

"Bells, you cooking breakfast anytime soon?" Charlie asked from outside Edward's door.

I heard Nessie chuckle from somewhere close to the bedroom door. "Chief, your grandson has the same sleep habits as his momma. They probably ain't even out of bed yet. Jake has breakfast handled."

I collapsed back onto the bed chuckling at the not so subtlety of my father. "At least he didn't just bust in here."

"There is that. I'm gonna go take a quick shower while he finishes waking up." Edward said as he swung his legs off the side of the bed, his muscles quivering as he pushed himself to a standing position. His body, even after a horrific accident and over three weeks in the hospital, was magnificent to look at. "I can feel your eyes on me, Isabella." He said as he made his way into the bathroom.

When he walked out of the steamy bathroom twenty minutes later I was sitting in the middle of his bed dressed in my black leggings with my red sweater dress on as I fed Cayden his breakfast bottle that Nessie had knocked on the door and handed me a few minutes after Edward had started his shower. "Please tell me that you are not going to dress our son in some crazy Christmas costume." He said as he stepped into his closet, pulling the door partially shut for privacy to get dresses since he had come out in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Nope, just a pair of dark blue jeans, red plaid button up shirt and a gray sweater vest over the top of that. Oh, and red socks." I said as I tickled the bottom of Cayden's bare feet causing him to grin around his bottle and start kicking his feet at me.

"Good. Emmett wanted to dress him up as an elf." Edward said as he walked out of the closet dressed in casual jeans and a ribbed grey sweater and his socks in his hand. "Can you help?"

I nodded before scooting Cayden across the bedspread to make room for Edward to sit down. "Yep. Still getting dizzy?" I asked taking the socks from him as he sat down.

He nodded as he reached over to tickle Cayden's feet causing the baby to giggle and smile at his daddy. "It's getting better but I don't want to take any chances today."

After the three of us were dressed we walked out of the room as a family for the first time ever. I simply raised my eyebrow at Jake and my Dad who were occupying my kitchen, Jake was cooking and Charlie was sampling.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"HO HO HO!"

Emmett was here. Cayden began squirming in his Papa's lap to go see his 'uncle' who could toss him into the air causing him to giggle like never before and my heart to lodge in my throat and Edward's fists to clench. "Hi, Em!" I called out from the kitchen where I was helping Jake finish off the last bit of our Christmas dinner.

"Hey BB. Come here little dude!" He said scooping Cayden into his arms for a light toss and hug causing the giggles and cackles I loved to hear from my happy baby.

I smiled as I listened to Edward introduce Emmett to Alice, Jasper, Charlie, and Vanessa. "You seem happy, B. Really happy." Jake said nudging me with his elbow.

Leaning my head against his arm I just sighed as I looked out at my family that filled up my temporary home. "I am, Jake, but I'm scared and worried too. This is all temporary, ending in five months." I told him sadly.

"It doesn't have to be, Bella. Maybe San Antonio could use an 'Izzy's hideaway' to spice up their life. That boy is clearly smitten with you, that's not temporary." Jake said placing a kiss to the top of my head.

I chuckled at the compliment on Edward because he and my father had been giving him hell since they got here two days ago. "This was all a test wasn't it? All the snide comments and hateful looks?" I asked just to make sure I wasn't falling off the deep end into crazy town.

"Yep and your boy over there never faltered in his honesty and hope and faith in you and him and Cayden. He's going to be around for a while. Stop holding that man at arm's length, Bella. We are all adults and it's obvious that you are not a virgin or a saint." He said nudging me playfully to break the mood.

"I don't want to rush things, Jake. That didn't work out so well for us last time." I reminded him as I mashed the potatoes.

"That's history, B. I'm gonna get sappy for a minute then this tit fest has to stop. It is obvious to anybody who looks at the two of you that you are so in love with one another, it shines in your eyes and practically radiates out into the room off of you two. Stop holding back." He said with a wink. "Give that boy some loving. It would make for one hell of a Christmas gift and might just aid in his recovery."

I shoved him breaking up the serious conversation with our laughter that garnered curious glances from the living room. Just as Jake went to place the turkey on the table the doorbell rang announcing the last person to join our mishmash of friends and family for Christmas dinner. "Who else is coming?" Emmett asked as he carried Cayden to his high chair for Edward.

"Rosalie. We made friends while Edward was in his coma." I explained as I walked to the door to let her in. The bombshell blonde was still dressed in her lime green scrubs and her hair still in its ponytail because she had just gotten off work. In her most recent email to me she had told me that she had offered to split the day shift with another nurse so they could both get part of the day off to spend with their family but her parents lived in New York and she had to work tomorrow so going home wasn't an option this year. So, I had invited her to join our mishmash of friends and family and she had readily accepted.

After dinner was ate us ladies—Alice, Angela, Nessie, Rosalie, and myself—put away the leftovers and began the process of cleaning Jake's mess up. Ang and I were splitting things into stowaway containers while Alice, Nessie, and Rosalie loaded the dishwasher and washed the bigger pots and pans. "Looks like things are going pretty good for you these days."

I nodded as I popped the lid onto the bit of leftover ham and turkey. "They are. Though I am not sure how I feel about my son turning into a daddy's boy instead of the momma's boy he used to be." I said with a nod of my head to the living room where Edward sat in his recliner dozing with Cayden conked out on his chest.

"It's adorable, Bella. Lola is the same way." She said as she looked at her husband and daughter in a similar pose as Edward and Cayden on the love seat. Jake, Emmett, and Charlie sat on the big couch with their feet all propped on the coffee table and hands folded across their stomachs as 'Miracle on 34th Street' played on the TV. "I think they are all in a food coma." She said chuckling lightly to herself. We could barely see Jasper's feet from where he was sprawled out in the floor because all of the furniture was taken up.

"I agree. Let's get this done so we can go join them." I told her as I snapped another lid in place.

Ten minutes later we waved by to Rosalie who was heading home to video chat with her family as we headed for the living room to join our dozing men. I copied Angela's actions as she repositioned Lola so she could wedge herself onto the love seat with Ben. Edward just smiled at me as I eased myself down beside him in the recliner. He wrapped his arm around my back as I put my head on his shoulder, snuggling into him. Without a word being said we all took our after dinner nap.

"Mamama!" Cayden squealed just before slapping my face in his excitement. I blinked open my eyes to see him and Edward both smiling down at me.

Groaning I turned my face into Edward's shoulder. "I much rather prefer the way we woke up this morning to this." I whispered quietly.

"Me too." He whispered back before Cayden slapped at both of us. "Monkey, that's not nice. No slapping." Edward told him sternly which resulted in a pouty lip and watery eyes from our baby.

I kept my mouth shut as I watched father and son have a stare off. Finally Cayden dove for his father's chest causing a deep rumbling chuckle from behind us. I looked over my shoulder to see my dad sitting there with a smile on his face. "That reminds me so much of you when you were a baby. Stubborn and head strong. It's good sight to see, Bells."

"Thanks, Dad." I said as I pushed myself up out of the chair. "Come on, Monkey, let's go get your butt changed." I told my son as I reached for him, he snuggled into my shoulder immediately as I ran my hands up and down his back to let him know while he was in trouble I still loved him.

Later than night, after everybody in the house was asleep I tossed my covers aside creeping out of my bedroom and down the stairs. I headed for the kitchen. "Can't sleep?" A voice asked from behind me startling me since I was bent over getting the milk and chocolate syrup out of the fridge.

Whirling around with my hand on my chest I spotted Edward standing there in nothing but his pajama pants hanging low on his hips. "What are you doing up?" I asked as I reached for a glass to fix my chocolate milk. "Want some?" I asked shaking my cup at him.

He nodded and sat down on one of the barstools at the island. "I just got the boy back to sleep." He said scrubbing his hand over his face.

That caused alarm because he hadn't woke up during the night since he first started teething. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, Bella. He was just thirsty and hot. I gave him a drink of water and pulled his pajama pants off before laying him back down." He said folding his arms on the counter top resting his chin on his folded arms watching me intently.

Without another word I fixed us both a large glass of chocolate milk before sliding them to him on the counter before snagging a few cookies out of the cookie jar. "You have really taken to this parenting thing a whole lot better than I did." I told him as I slid onto the barstool beside him.

"What do you mean? You do a fantastic with him, like a natural." He said snagging a cook as he turned sideways on his barstool so that he was facing me.

I laughed before taking a sip of my chocolate milk. "You should talk to Angela and Nessie before they leave. They can tell you some horror stories of Cayden's first few weeks. I remember calling Angela one night around two o'clock in the morning because I couldn't get Cayden to latch on or take a bottle or quit crying. She had to remind me that my nerves were transferring to my baby which was making him fussy an irritable. Nessie was there every day as I struggled trying to manage all three of my babies; Cayden, Moonshine, and Izzy's Hideaway."

"I think I have it easy compared to you because I get this happy go lucky baby that is just awesome but I would give anything to have been there with you through all those learning curves that got him and you to this point." He said as he leaned forward kissing the side of my head. "What was with today?" He whispered against the side of my head.

I smiled around my cookie. "Taking a chance and moving forward." I whispered as I swallowed my cookie before turning to face him, easing my knees between his spread ones.

"Really?" He asked with a bright smile that was almost blinding.

Cupping his face in my hands gently I leaned forward until I was just a few millimeters from his lips. "Yes, are you ready for me?" I whispered against his lips.

His response was to slant his lips over mine as he tugged me off my stool and flush to his chest. "You bet your sweet ass, I'm ready for you." He breathed out when we broke for oxygen. He still got out of breath fairly easy due to his diaphragm damage but it was getting better each and every day. "I want nothing more than to take you to bed and show you just how ready I am for you."

"All in due time, Edward, all in due time." I told him as I sunk my hands into his hair scratching his scalp lightly causing him to moan.

"Last night was close to heaven to me, you know? Waking up to my wife and my son both in the same room with me made this day absolutely perfect." He whispered softly as we rested our foreheads together.

He was such a cheeseball but I couldn't help the flutter my heart gave at his sweet words. "Want to make tomorrow perfect too?" I whispered before I could think any better of it.

His nod came quickly once my words registered with his ears. "What about our milk and cookies?" He asked when I made to pull away from him so we could go to his bedroom.

"Which would you rather be doing in the middle of the night; have cookies and milk in the cool kitchen or snuggle with me in very little clothing in your bed?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

That got a reaction out of him. "Well when you put it that way, what are you waiting for?" He asked holding a hand out to me as he headed towards his bedroom.


	13. Chapter 13

**No sure why you felt the need to hide behind a guest review but whoever you are thank you for being kind enough to point out the sentence structure mistake.**

 **I fixed it so it should be easier to read now.**

 **Just a heads up...this story is unbeta'd so all mistakes are 100% my own and I depend on my readers to find and point out the mistakes that I miss.**

* * *

Chapter 13

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I watched Edward take his final step onto the landing at the top of the stairs with Emmett trailing behind him a few steps just in case he needed assistance. I was battling with Cayden who kept trying to follow his daddy up the stairs while I kept plucking him off of them. Seemed like we were going to have to invest in some baby gates or a different house soon. "Cheer for daddy!" I told Cayden as I noticed Edward coming right back down the stairs with a huge smile on his face. Cayden held his arms up in the touchdown signal he had learned from his Papa and Jake as he babbled loudly.

"You know what this means don't you?" Edward asked with a huge smile on his face.

Playfully I shook my head as if I had no idea this meant he could sleep in the master bedroom with me while our son got his room back in the next room over. "Not a clue, care to fill me in?"

Emmett busted out laughing while Edward rolled his eyes and Jake guffawed from the kitchen and Nessie's cackle sounded out from the living room. "Our son can get his bedroom back so his parents can have a bit of privacy." He said as he stepped off the bottom step only slightly out of breath. He had been working on getting up and down the stairs without collapsing for the past three days and today was his first success.

"Oh really? And just what are these 'parents' supposed to do with this newfound privacy?" I teased as I danced out of the way.

He grabbed the back of my baggy t-shirt stopping me in my tracks before tugging me backwards until my back was against his chest. "Ring in the New Year tied together in the most exquisite of ways." He whispered into my ear causing me to gasp and blush all at the same time.

"I don't think that's a natural shade of red there, B." Nessie said as she headed for the kitchen where Jake was working on dinner for all of us.

Her comment snapped me out of my trance as I whirled around to face Edward in concern. "The doctor?" I asked softly because last I knew he wasn't supposed to do any strenuous activity outside of monitored therapy sessions. But Emmett had taken him to the hospital today for his appointment and a therapy session while I went over business talk with Nessie.

"All clear." He winked at me causing Emmett to groan and walk away with a shake of his head. "Should I bring up your reaction to 'Rosie', Em?"

That stopped Emmett in his tracks with wide eyes. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me." Edward said with a huge grin on his face. I couldn't wait to find out what that was all about but our son was demanding attention at the moment as was Jake.

"Dinner's ready, love birds."

Later that evening I let Edward lay Cayden down in his crib in the upstairs nursery. I had carried the sleepy baby upstairs while Edward walked beside us slowly but had let him have the honors of laying our son down to sleep in his own bedroom. "Goodnight, son. Daddy loves you." He whispered as he kissed Cayden's forehead before laying him down in the crib only for him to immediately roll over onto his stomach.

"Come on, babe. He will be fine." I said from the doorway when I noticed Edward was reluctant to leave Cayden alone in the bedroom all by himself. "He has slept in a room by himself since the day he was born, Edward."

He sighed loudly. "I know, it's just…" He said shaking his head.

Laughing lightly I flipped on the baby monitor and headed for the master bedroom but not before pausing in front of Nessie and Jake's door that was open. "You guys drink enough for all of us, okay?" I told them since they were heading to Rose's house for her New Year's party. Edward and I had opted out, choosing instead to spend it at home with each other and Cayden since this was his first New Years. We also had major plans that would be better done in a house without other adult guests to overhear and comment on the following day. I remember what it was like being with Edward last September in Vegas; being quiet was not in the cards.

"Yep, you have fun playing with Edward." Jake called from the closet.

"Oh I will. See you guys tomorrow." I said with a smile as I headed for the master bedroom to get ready for bed.

When Edward walked in ten minutes later, I was sitting in the middle of my—our—bed dressed in one of his button up shirts and my panties. "Wow, you look delectable."

"Hold your horses for a few minutes. There are some things I want to talk to you about first, can we do that?" I asked holding the edges of his shirt together over my bare breasts.

He nodded as he tugged his shirt off over his head tossing it onto the chair as he walked towards the bed before sitting down with his hip touching my folded knees. "This sounds like it's going to be a serious conversation when this is supposed to be a fun night." He said rubbing my bare knee gently.

Sighing I reluctantly nodded. "It is but only because I want to go into the New Year with my eyes wide open and certain things discussed and figured out. Humor me?" I asked cupping his face in my hands gently.

He popped a gentle quick kiss to my lips before scooting back on the bed a bit to give us space to have this 'serious' conversation. "Okay, what's the top item on your list?"

"Your job."

He nodded before flopping back onto the bed with his arms folded behind his head. His chest and stomach was marred with scars from all of his surgeries he had to endure after his accident. "Did you know I was knocked off of the boat into freezing cold water the last time I was out? I could have died and never known about Cayden." He said before scrubbing his face and rolling his head to look at me.

I looked at him with tears in my eyes. "How? I thought you knew what you were doing?" I whispered to him.

"It was an accident, a freak accident. But nonetheless there is no way I can go back to that knowing I have you and Cayden at home waiting for me. I don't know what I'm going to do but I will find something." He told me as he reached a hand out for me.

Laying my hand in his gave me a sense of calm. "Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

He nodded without a moment's hesitation. "Absolutely, no doubts whatsoever. Next?"

Chucking I leaned over to kiss his lips gently. "Location? Here? Washington? Alaska? Somewhere new?"

A shrug of his shoulders was the response I got out of him but with a raised eyebrow I got a verbal response. "I don't care, baby. Your business is in Washington, Jasper is here, and what few possessions I had in Alaska I am sure Irina destroyed them. Honestly, I just don't care where we live as long as we are together."

"Okay." I said with a huge smile on my face. "This next one may or may not have some bearing on the next 'topic'." I told him using air quotes around the word topic.

"What is it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

I spread my arms around me at the huge house I was currently subletting. "This house is huge and there are going to only be the three of us in a few more days. None of my Washington crew will be back until Cayden's birthday."

He nodded with a grimace on his face. "I know, do we need a house this huge now that we are going to be sharing a room?" He asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Slapping him on his shoulder I shook my head. "No, we don't. But if you want to settle in the area permanently then we could look into buying a house instead of renting."

"Your business is in Washington though and so is your father so I suggest us just find a smaller place to rent for the time being until we can decide on our future. Are you okay with that?"

Nodding I leaned over to kiss his lips again. "That's fine, Edward, but just so you know I talked to Nessie and Jake about partnering in on Izzy's Hideaway since they have done such a great job while I've been down here with you."

"Oh really? I will admit that that is a bit shocking. That means we could really go anywhere we wanted, huh?" He said as he rolled onto his side tugging on my hand until I was laying down beside him.

"Yep, got any ideas?" I asked as I pushed him onto his back so that I could straddle his hips allowing his shirt to spread open a bit revealing the edges of my 'mom' boobs as I called them since they weren't as firm as they had been last time we were together.

He placed his hands on my bare thighs sliding them upward causing the shirt to spread open even further. "Oh yeah, but right now I want to make love to my wife. You game?"

Leaning down over him I answered him with a passionate kiss to his lips to which he eagerly responded by rolling us over so that he was on top.


	14. Chapter 14

**Moving forward a bit in time here...**

 **Only 2 chapters left after this one.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews so far, you guys! I do appreciate and read each and every single one though I typically don't reply to them unless a concern is pointed out.**

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Chapter 14

"That's the last of it." Edward called out to me from downstairs.

Leaning over the railing I smiled down at him. "Then get your sexy ass up here so we can wash all this sweat away!" I called out as I crooked a finger at him beckoning him to me.

We were leaving Texas in the morning heading for Washington then Montana. Well, technically we weren't moving to Montana for another seven weeks but that is where we were going to settle for the next portion of our lives together. In the months since New Year's we had been super busy planning this next big move in our lives. We had found an old abandoned school building that was big enough to fit both of our plans into it about 10 minutes outside city limits of Butte, Montana. While I wanted to do a replica of Izzy's Hideaway, Edward wanted to expand on the idea by adding in apartments we could rent out for steady income and a bar area to draw in the young and single community of the area. Thank God it was a pretty massive building with good bones and structures. It was a red brick tudor style building that stood two stories tall with 12 foot ceilings on both floors with original and massive 1925 build-ins and fireplaces. **(I couldn't find the type of building that fit the image I had in my head in the location I wanted it in so I looked around the world for abandoned schools and happened upon the Ruthruff School in Detroit, MI.)**

Upon purchase of the building we had immediately found a reputable company that would go in to do a massive clean-up of the stuff that was left behind. Once the clean-up crew was finished we had sent in another crew to repair and replace the roof before scraping all the walls and ceilings in the place along with pulling up any damaged floors and boarding up the few windows that were busted. All of this was being done without us ever setting foot in the place which was worrisome to both Edward and I so as soon as we could we were going to make a day trip over to check on the place as well as come up with a rehab plan. Thankfully all of this was possible on a fairly laid back schedule because Edward had gotten an early parole from therapy and rehab—six weeks early! That is why we were leaving Texas behind and heading to Washington almost two months ahead of schedule. We had talked some more New Year's night about when we would put all of these plans into motion and had come up with Cayden's first birthday. Originally Edward's therapy was supposed to end the week before Cayden's birthday which would put us in Washington a few days before the big celebration. It had never even been discussed where our boy's first birthday party would be held—in the same home he was brought home to a year earlier, just with his daddy by our side this time.

Flying home to Washington was a lot easier than the flight down had been four and a half months earlier but that was majorly because I had help this time around. "I never thought that flight would end." Edward complained as he patted a now sleeping Cayden on his diaper clad butt as he slept soundly on Edward's shoulder while I pulled our luggage off of the turning carousel.

I just laughed at him. "Try doing it by yourself." I told him with a wink to let him know that I was just teasing.

"No way. Was he this fussy on the way down?"

"Nope but he was also four and a half months younger so he slept most of the flight because he was still taking two, two hour naps a day." I explained because Cayden last month started keeping us up until after eleven o'clock at night so we had cut out his morning nap and moved his afternoon nap back a few hours. It had immediately brought back my baby that was conked out by nine o'clock and didn't wake up until after eight the next morning.

Edward nodded in understanding as he reached out to snag Cayden's car seat before carefully lowering the slumbering baby into it and strapping him in without waking him. "Are you excited to be back here?" He asked as he began piling our suitcases onto a luggage cart because we had seven huge suitcases filled with all of our belonging we had collected while in Texas along with Cayden's stroller and car seat.

"I am but I think it's just because this is the way I dreamed of bringing our baby home that very first time. At least we got our shit together before his first birthday, he won't ever remember those first few months when you were in Alaska." I had gotten better at saying that he was in Alaska instead of just not around after he explained how hurtful it was to him every time I said it because it made him feel like I hadn't forgiven him yet. In all actuality once he explained everything it wasn't hard to forgive him, especially since I had gotten to throw Irina's ass in jail for harassment charges.

Edward wrapped me up in his arms. "This is the way it should have been. I'm just glad we're out of that Texas heat and closer to our new venture."

I shoved his cocky ass away from me as I spotted another lime green suitcase we had bought to stick out from everybody else's. "Don't get cocky." This new venture was going to be called 'Eddie's Hideaway' at his insistence because we already had an Izzy's Hideaway why couldn't the next one be named after him? Why not, indeed. He had already brought up that the third one could be named after Cayden but that brought up the subject of other children and whether we wanted to expand from two buildings to more or not. We had decided to just leave the future alone and see what happens. I wasn't on birth control as of the moment because my shot had run out over a month ago and we had talked and decided to just see what the future held for us.

"I would say you are happy to be home if the smile on your face is any indication." Edward said as he pulled my car into the private parking area at the back of the building that was for me and my employees but not customers. The smile hadn't left my face since we had checked my car out of the short term parking where Jake had left it last night and headed for the bypass that would take us to Izzy's Hideaway.

Looking around I realized that this hadn't been 'home' to me in months. I had felt at 'home' in Texas because I was in love, my business was thriving without my presence, and my baby boy was happy. "This isn't home, Edward. You and Cayden are home to me." I told him as he parked the car, leaving the engine running as he turned to face me cupping my face gently.

"You two are my home two." He said as he placed a gentle kiss to my lips. "I love you Isabella Marie." This was the first time he had told me that he loved me since Vegas over a year ago and it still made my heart flutter. I crawled over the console so that I was straddling his hips as I sunk my fingers into his hair.

"I love you too, Edward Anthony. So damn much." I told him just before slanting my lips across his for a passionate kiss that would have led to so much more if it wasn't for the persistent knocking on the window and .

"Knock it off you two, there's a baby in the car!" Jake cackled as he laughed at his own joke.

Flipping him off I opened the door stepping out of the drivers side. "Hey dick, shall I go tell Nessie that you are harassing me again?" I said as I wrapped him up in a huge hug.

He twirled me around the driveway. "I've missed you, B!"

"I've missed you too, Jake, now put me down before I puke on your shoes." I told him without a trace of laughter in my voice because my stomach was seriously spinning right about now but I knew I wasn't pregnant because I had a special kind of visitor at the moment.

Later that evening I was cooking dinner in the kitchen while Edward gave Cayden a bath and put him to bed after our long day of traveling. "Say night night to mommy." Edward said as he came in with a sleepy looking Cayden cuddled in his arms wrapped in one of his towels.

I ran a hand through his wet hair that was sticking up all over his head as I placed kisses all over his head causing him to smile at me. "Night, Monkey. Sleep tight and always remember that mommy loves you."

With those whispered words Edward kissed the top of my head before disappearing down the hall to lay our little boy down to sleep in the nursery he used when I brought him home from the hospital. "He's out for the count." Edward said as he walked back into the kitchen ten minutes later as I was sliding our plates onto the island. "Are you absolutely sure you want to give this up?"

Nodding, I sat on the stool beside him. "Yep, they are going to be so shocked when we tell them."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Today was a bittersweet day for me—Edward too—because our baby was turning a year old. I cried this morning as I got him out of his crib because it was one year ago today that I was bargaining with him to get him to cooperate during his birth. Now, it was time to get him dressed in his "I'm 1!" onesie and I the tears were falling down my cheeks again. "Bella?" Angela asked from the doorway of Cayden's nursery that was almost bare of his belongings. We were moving to Montana in three days so most of our stuff was packed into boxes in what used to be my office.

"I'm fine, Ang. Just emotional because my baby is growing up." I told her with a watery smile.

"Are we really going to go through this again?" She said as she cradled her tiny baby bump that had seemingly popped out in the past few weeks. She was four months pregnant with her and Ben's second child.

"Go through what again?" I asked as I buttoned Cayden's onesie between his legs before pulling his jeans up his legs. "I'm fine."

She nodded with a smile as she leaned against the doorjamb. "Yeah, you said that last time too. I have the tests in my purse whenever you are ready to use them." She said before turning to leave the room.

Looking down at my happy baby who gnawed on his fist happily while I dressed his limp body I couldn't help but be hopeful that Angela could be right. "Let's go celebrate, huh? A lot of people have showed up to celebrate your day, monkey." I said scooping him off of his changing table with a kiss to his cheek.

I walked out of my condo and down to the restaurant floor that we had shut down for the day. Most of the hotel rooms were taken up with out of town visitors; Charlie was in a room since our place was in shambles, Rose and Emmett—they started dating sometime between New Year's and Valentine's Day—shared a room for privacy sakes, and Alice and Jasper were in one also. I think the biggest surprise to Edward was when his entire crabbing crew had showed up to partake in Cayden's big day.

Later that evening while Cayden played with his building blocks in the floor of what used to be my office I got smacked with a horrendous smell that sent me running for the bathrooms with my hand clamped over my mouth. Nessie, Rosalie, and Alice were all looking at me curiously as I sprinted from the room with wide eyes but Angela simply picked up her purse and followed after me. "I'll go make sure she's okay." I heard her tell them just before I tossed up my dinner into the toilet.

"You ready for this yet?" Angela asked as I leaned back against the wall after my stomach settled down for the moment.

Rolling my head against the wall I looked over at her and nodded slightly. "This is isn't supposed to happen yet." I told her as she tossed the test to me.

"Have you been on birth control?"

I shook my head as I pushed up off the floor to use the test. "No, but…" I said as I tugged my pants down.

"What did you expect, Bella? You guys made Cayden in two days of epic sex according to you." She said to the wall to give me a semblance of privacy which wasn't really needed since she had been in the delivery room when Cayden had been born.

"I know but still…" I told her as I flushed the toilet and pulled my pants up.

She took the test with a paper towel and just smiled at me. "No three minutes needed, sweetheart. It's going to be great that both of our kids are just a few months apart in age. Cayden and Lola will be seven months apart while Leo and your baby will be roughly five months."

I caught her little slip. "Leo? So it's a boy?" I asked her as I took a look at the test she had laid on the counter.

"It is. We just found out yesterday but didn't want to take away from Cade's big day." She said throwing her arm around my shoulders. "This is one hell of a birthday present to that boy, not sure you will ever be able to top it."

Smiling at her through the mirror I nodded. "I will spend my lifetime trying though."

Later that night as I crawled into bed beside a bare chested Edward I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. The last time I had found out I was pregnant telling him hadn't worked out so well and left me feeling like shit afterwards. Although we had come a long way since this time last year I was still nervous about telling him that we were going to be parents again in the next seven or eight months. Edward kissed me on the shoulder as I got situated in the bed while he read the book he was determined to finish before we left for Montana in a few days. "Angela uploaded all of the photos of today onto our cloud account before she went home, want to look through them so we can decide which ones to print?" I asked him hoping he would say yes because there was a few surprise pictures in there announcing my pregnancy.

He closed his book before pulling me into his arm so he was looking over my shoulder. "Sure thing, baby. I didn't think she would get it done today. She sure does work fast." He commented as I opened our cloud account which sure enough was filled with picture after picture of Cayden's day.

"Yeah, she was working on it in the office while the kid's napped and us women gossiped." I told him as I my breath caught when the first of 'the' pictures showed up on the screen. Moonshine was holding an unused pregnancy test in his teeth while Cayden sat on his back wearing a white onesie that Alice had wrote on with a fabric marker. It said "Best present ever…another baby!" in green marker.

"That's cute that Angela is involving Cayden in the new baby's adventures." He commented on the picture. I just nodded as the grin spread across my face because the next one would not be able to be mistaken as being part of Angela's pregnancy.

We flipped through probably twenty more party photos before I noticed that 'the' picture that would tell it all was next. I flipped the picture onto the screen and held my breath. I was holding Cayden in my arms, him wearing his wrote on t-shirt, while I held up a poster board that said "Good luck topping this present, daddy. You just made our boy a big brother on his first birthday!" in black marker. When he said nothing I flipped to the next picture that had me holding up another sign that said "BREATHE, EDWARD it's just a baby! We've already got one, what's another one?" When he still didn't say anything I flipped to the next picture that was the final 'the' picture I had taken today. This one said "Yes, Edward, it's true. We're having a baby! Maybe a girl?" His hand slid down to my stomach beneath the blanket as his eyes bounced from the tablet in my hand to my eyes to my stomach. Over and over again.


	16. Chapter 16

**Just want to say a huge thanks to those of you that have read, liked, or reviewed this little story of mine that came to me while I was watching Deadliest Catch one night. This is the final chapter!**

Thanks for taking this journey with me and I will see you tomorrow for the next chapter of Journey to Find the One.

Sorry folks, I posted the chapter of the wrong story. I guess that's what happens when I'm doing stuff half asleep.

 **FINAL DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, SM HAS ALL THAT PLEASURE!**

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Chapter 16

EPOV

Watching my youngest walk across the stage to receive her high school diploma caused a huge face splitting grin to break out across my face as I called out to her "WAY TO GO TORY!" causing her to grin my way with a shake of her head.

"She's gonna murder you later tonight, Dad." Cayden said from behind me where he sat with his nineteen month old baby daughter in his lap while his wife held their two month old daughter. Cayden had met Sophie his sophomore year at NYU. They started dating two weeks into the semester and were married two weeks after they graduated and became parents the following year.

I just shrugged. "Haven't you learned yet that is part of being a father? Getting to embarrass your kids on their big days?" I asked him with a teasing grin.

He just nodded. "Yeah it's also my job as the big brother to try to protect them from said embarrassments." Big brother he was. To five younger sisters.

"I know, bub. Good try but dad outranks big brother in this case." I told him before turning back to watch the rest of the graduates walk across the stage.

In the years since Bella forgave and allowed me to be the best husband I knew how to be we had been blessed with seven beautiful children but our fourth baby had only lived a mere two days after being born. Cayden was now 26 years old. Annaliese and Tamara had come next and were now 24 years old, married, and expecting their first babies. Ethan was our angel baby that watched over our entire family in the arms of his grandpa Charlie but would be 22 had he lived. Lucy had come next and had just finished up her junior year of college at UCLA at 20 years old. Victoria was our shocker baby that would turn 18 in a few months, on my birthday.

"Are you ready to have our house all to ourselves in a few days?" My love asked from my side.

I just shrugged because we had never had our house to ourselves in 28 years so I wasn't entirely sure I would know how to handle the silence that was sure to bring. "I don't know. Are you?"

She shook her head. "No. All of my babies will be gone and I'm not going to know what to do with all that spare time. No more school functions, no more uniforms to wash, no more high school drama, no more "Mom have you seen my shirt?" or "Mom what's for dinner?"" She said leaning into my side with her head on my shoulder.

Kissing the top of her head I watched with a heavy heart as my baby girl tossed her maroon cap high up into the air along with the rest of her classmates. "I know baby, I'm scared too."

"She will be fine, y'all. It's not like you can't come visit all of us now that you are finished with the high schooler." Lucy said from beside her mother. Victoria was going to California with Lucy when she went back in three days. Lucy had a part time job, apartment, boyfriend, and cat she had to get back to so she was only in town for six days. Which was not near enough time according to her mother but we all understood having responsibilities.

I looked at Bella with excitement in my eyes. Other than our move from Texas to Montana 27 years ago and our move from Montana to North Carolina 15 years ago to open Ethan's Paradise when Tory wasn't quite two years old. "Hey, we can travel and visit everybody now."

She just nodded as the principal of the school started speaking. "I've been a mom most of my life now there is nobody left to mother…" She said softly after a few more minutes.

"They will always need their mother but now we get to be grandparents." I reminded her gently. "Plus we can rechristen the house without having to be quiet about now." I said hoping to get a happy grin on her face.

Once my words registered she looked up at me with a cocky grin on her face. "Are you up for that? The house is big with a lot of rooms, you know…"She said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Since we wanted all of our kids to have their own private space we just bought land—15 acres with a pond—to build our dream house on. We ended up with an 8 bedroom 8 bathroom massive home that still felt like home instead of a luxury hotel.

"Oh, I'm up for the challenge Isabella. Are you?"

She just simply nodded. "Three days, Edward Anthony."

"Three days?" I asked confused.

"Until the last kid leaves."

"Oh."

"You guys are so gross." Matthew, Jake and Nessie's youngest boy said from his spot beside me. He was 10 years old so being sweet to girls was not in his knowledge yet unless it was to his momma.

"You'll understand one day, buddy. I promise." I told him with a ruffle to his hair.

He adamantly shook his head before leaning into Nessie who just laughed at us. "Hey, at least you still got it."

I nodded as we all stood to clap and congratulate the entire graduating class.

Later that evening our house was packed full of our friends and family:

Angela/Ben and their three kids—Lola, Leo, and Logan.

Jake/Nessie and their two kids—Matthew and Kaylee.

Alice/Jasper with their two mini cowboys—JJ and Alex.

Annaliese and her husband of two years Cody.

Tamara and her husband of one year Seth.

Cayden/Sophie with our two grandbabies—Lilly and Gracie.

Edward's old crabbing captain and crew with their families.

Two hours into the party Tory came up to her mother and I on the back deck where all of the adults sat catching up and sipping cocktails. "Can I leave now?" She asked as she slid onto my lap like she used to do when she was a baby.

"Where are you going?" I asked her quietly.

"Daddy, it's graduation night. I want to go out and celebrate with all my friends." She said with a slight whine in her voice.

I simply raised an eyebrow at her letting her know without words that I wasn't pleased with her answer and she should elaborate.

"It's a gathering on the beach. Samantha's parents got permission for us to have a bonfire and gathering out there for the night." She elaborated.

I nodded. "Thank you, baby girl. Is Brent going to be there? Is there going to be alcohol?"

She shrugged. "I don't know about the alcohol but yes Brent will be there, daddy. I'm almost 18 now and I know the rules. Trust me to be the dutiful daughter you and Mom raised me to be." She said with her own raised eyebrow almost as if daring me to question what she had said.

"I don't care but talk to your mom too." I said with a nod in Bella's direction since she was engrossed in a conversation with Angela and Nessie.

She popped a kiss on my cheek. "Thanks Daddy, love you." She said before hopping out of my lap and over to Bella's side.

I leaned my head back against the edge of the chair closing my eyes to the sounds of all my friends and family enjoying themselves on our massive back deck. Somebody sliding into my lap again caused me to snap them open in surprise only to see my cheeky wife sitting there with a shit eating grin on her face. "Penny for your thoughts, husband?"

I tugged her into my chest allowing her to snuggle into me as I wrapped my arms around her still slender waist even after five pregnancies. "Just enjoying the night and thinking of all the possibilities this big empty house is going to hold for us."

"Hmm…" She said before placing her lips against mine.


End file.
